Attitude
by katthecat12
Summary: Sasuke's horrible attitude needs a make over. He's shipped out to live with his older brother in the countryside of the USA. What kind of adventures await him? Will he be able to handle the capricious Sakura and her over protective Twin, Sai? SasuSaku ShikaIno NaruHina Neji Ten Rated M for future Lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own Naruto.

So here's the first chapter! I graduated high school this past Friday so CONGRATS TO ME! As well as a big fat congratulations to any other graduating members of the class of 2013! I have a whole summer ahead of me. A weekend job, a few babysitting and pet sitting jobs, helping a woman in my church who's sorta on the brink by doing her house work for her so she has less to worry about while she goes through kemo. She's in her late 60's =[ Other than those things and kickboxing (but that's for an hour 4 nights a week), I don't have much else going on. I have 18 chapters of this bitch already in the bag. I'm hoping that by the time I get to about the 10th or so chapter, the rest of this will be done. I'll be uploading one chapter every week :) Since it's timely I hope you guys will appreciate me more (not that you didn't before). Happy reading!

* * *

Sasuke was a spoiled brat. He had half the world's riches at his fingertips and he didn't even appreciate it. Everyone thought he was a spoiled brat except for his mother, who always showered him with every ounce of love and affection. But one day his father had had enough of his selfishness and decided it was high-time for him to have an attitude adjustment. His father had the perfect plan in mind as well.

* * *

"She what?" Karin asked not bothering to look up from her iPhone to express her shock.

She and Sasuke were out walking around the city. He'd promised to take her shopping that weekend. As much as Sasuke would never admit it, he found Karin fairly attractive. However, she belonged to his former friend, Suigetsu. Right when Sasuke thought about how he went back on their agreement to neither of them being allowed to date Karin, Suigetsu walked into the very store they were in. Karin was in the changing room of the store, but when she walked out she squealed and ran to Suigetsu. The two hugged while Suigetsu and Sasuke exchanged glares from over her shoulder.

"You still don't trust me further than you could throw me do you?" Suigetsu asked after Karin walked back into the dressing room.

"Not further than I could _spit_ you" the Uchiha corrected with narrowed eyes, looking directly at the silver-haired boy.

Suigetsu sighed disappointedly before leaning up against the wall next to Sasuke before asking another question, "So what's this about your parents' idea of punishment?"

Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyes, and was about to tell Suigetsu about his family's cruel and unusual punishment, but Karin walked out of the dressing room once more shouting, "How do I look?"

"Flawless as usual" Sasuke said in an uninterested voice.

"Stunning" was Suigetsu's reply with more emotion.

"Continue" Suigetsu grunted as soon as Karin was back inside the dressing room.

"My parents are sending me to go live with my brother" Sasuke growled under his breath, trying to make sure Karin didn't hear him.

Suigetsu's eyes widened for a second before he asked yet another question, "And where the hell would _that_ be?"

Sasuke shook his head and looked down before answering, "The United States."

"Damn…"

"Hn…"

"Karin's going to throw a fit."

"I know."

"And?"

"Don't tell her."

"You're a faggot."

"You're one to talk, you back stabbing son of a bitch."

"Coming from the man who's going to have to deal with her, yes, I am one to talk."

After the boys had spoken their quick and witty retorts, rapid-fire, with zero expression, Karin had finished shopping and the three teens were headed off toward a corner café.

"I hope you don't mind me inviting Suigetsu without telling you…" Karin nervously cooed sensing the Uchiha's extreme discomfort.

"Hn" was his only response.

Like hell he wouldn't mind. He had promised to spend time with Karin, not that _thing_ with an arm snaked around her waist. Karin just tried to ignore the daggers the two boys were exchanging through deadly expressions. As soon as Sasuke received a text, however, he had to excuse himself and left a $20 bill on the table.

_"Get home, now"_ was the text he received from his father.

His gut was wrenching with what he assumed to be guilt especially when he looked at Karin before he walked out the door. Suigetsu wouldn't let him get off that easy. The silver haired boy followed Sasuke down the sidewalk before yelling at him.

"Oi!" he shouted, "What the hell are you going to do about Karin? She's nothing without you!"

Sasuke turned around glaring before answering with malice, "That's why she has _you_, isn't it?"

Suigetsu shrugged then said, "You still owe her the courtesy of letting her know…"

"Fine" the Uchiha spat, "I will, but on my own time."

"Like hell you will" was Suigetsu's final words before he went back to having lunch with his girlfriend, Karin.

* * *

Sasuke slammed the front door shut, a clear indication that he'd arrived home, and with a bad attitude as usual. It was only moments later that a maid came down the stairs to greet him and direct him to his father's private study. Sasuke was apprehensive about turning the door knob, but eventually he heard his father on the other side of the door telling him to come in.

"Your plane leaves tonight" Fugaku informed the raven haired boy, "So I'd start packing if I were you."

"But you're _not_ me" came the boy's saucy reply.

Fugaku pinched the skin between his eyes then said, "That attitude is exactly why we're doing this Sasuke, now go."

Sasuke let out a "che" then left the room.

He found a plane ticket in the middle of his neatly made bed. The maids were even kind enough to lay out a suitcase as well.

"They want me gone that badly, do they?..." Sasuke muttered to himself staring at everything being set up as he strode over to his walk-in closet.

He came back out moments later with his arms full of his designer jeans, brand-name shirts, and top-notch shoes. He filled his suitcase with clothes that valued up to about $3,000 total. To him, that was practically nothing. He set his packed suitcase by the door of his room and walked over to his nightstand where his phone was. It was already vibrating and the caller ID filled his heart with dread. It was Karin. He didn't know why she was calling, so he was reluctant to answer because he had his suspicions.

When he did finally answer, holding it up to his ear, he said, "Hello?"

"Sasuke what's wrong?" came Karin's shrill voice on the other line.

"What?" came the boy's confused reply.

"Suigetsu said that you needed to talk to me!"

"_That bastard…"_ Sasuke thought to himself as he tightly clutched the phone in his hand.

"I'm not about to tell you over the phone" he mumbled.

"So I should come over?" she asked with an undertone of hopefulness in her voice.

"No" came the Uchiha's swift, but gentle answer, "Meet me at the old spot by the rec-center."

"That old place?" She asked confused, but knowing where it was none-the-less.

"Hn."

Then he hung up, freshened-up, and went down to find the limo driver. He already had his bags in the limo and a half filled backpack over his shoulder for carry-on luggage. He hopped into the limo and instructed the man to go to the old abandoned rec-center.

Much to popular belief, Sasuke wasn't always stuck-up. In his early teens (12-14 years old) he was an outcast and soon turned to gang activities in an attempt to be "accepted." He still wears the bent dog tags with his old gang's symbol on it. That's how he met Karin. She was essentially the gang's whore at the time, but left with Sasuke. The two of them became friends because of the silent respect he showed towards her. When Sasuke's parents found out about his back-alley activities they made him quit. If it ever got out that the heir to one of the biggest corporations was a gangster, then all hell would break loose in the professional, corporate world. Sasuke tried to end things on good terms, but he got a brutal farewell beating. Karin tried to stand-up for him, but she got an even worse beating than him. Sasuke managed to crawl to the chain-link fence to stand-up. He eventually regained his balance and strength and managed to carry Karin to the nearest hospital. She had several cracked ribs, internal bleeding, and a concussion. She managed to get out of the hospital after a little over two weeks. She and Sasuke had had an almost unbreakable bond ever since that day. He never promised to always be there, but he felt like it was his job anyway. An unspoken vow.

The limo driver pulled up to the abandoned rec-center before asking, "Master Sasuke, are you sure that we have time to stop here?"

Sasuke scowled blankly saying, "We have an hour."

He didn't want to waste anymore time talking to his driver, so he walked around to the back of a building to find Karin leaning up against one of the basketball poles on the old basketball court, the spot where both of them were beat to a bloody-pulp.

"I'm leaving" the Uchiha stated flatly.

Karin's eyes shot up to his in confusion before he clarified, "The county. I'm leaving the country."

"For how long?" she asked as Sasuke stepped closer to her.

He looked away from her as he said, "I don't know."

Karin's expression was one of hurt and shock. She knew his parents were easily angry and drastic people, but they weren't last-second people. She knew that Sasuke had known all along and had chosen not to tell her. She was hurt to say the least. She thought that there were no secrets between them, but she guessed she was wrong.

"Why?" She asked looking down, her hair covering her face, "Why did you keep it a secret from me? Am I that untrustworthy?"

"No" the Uchiha cut her off, "It's because I didn't want to see you upset a whole week before I left.

"Well I'm more upset _now_!" Karin shouted as tears flowed down her face.

"Don't do this Karin" Sasuke said slightly irritated, but drenched with guilt.

"Don't do what?" She shrieked, "Care? Cry?! Shout?! Be _upset_?!"

Sasuke cut her off by hugging her in a tight embrace. He wasn't one for affection, but Karin was so upset, and it was the least he could do after being such a jerk to her with the last second announcement of his departure.

"You have to come back…" she whispered as she clutched his jacket and shirt while her hands made tiny fists.

Sasuke felt bad for not giving her the answer she wanted to hear, but decided the truth is what was best, "I promise you that I'll try the best I can to come back, as soon as possible. Ok?"

Karin cried even more after hearing those words. Sasuke eventually looked at his wristwatch and noticed that he had spent more time than he should have.

"I've got to go" he told Karin as he separated from her.

He felt a pang of guilt wrench his stomach as he walked back to the limo leaving her in the middle of the abandoned basketball court, crying alone. The limo driver got Sasuke to the airport in just enough time. His plane was already boarding. Before he handed the lady behind the desk his ticket, he looked over his shoulder, secretly hoping that the redhead had followed him, like she normally did, and that she would try and stop him, beg him to stay. But when he turned around he saw no one was going to stop him, no one wanted to.

"Ok mom, I'll go get him" Itachi grumbled into the phone, "Yeah, love you too, bye."

After Itachi hung up the phone Sakura couldn't help but show her curiosity asking, "Who was that?"

Itachi scowled before saying, "That was my mother. It seems my little brother is going to be staying here for a little while. I'm going to need you to clean up the guest room for him."

Sakura nodded and stood up from the table. At that same moment, Sai appeared from the basement room and didn't even bother talking to Sakura or Itachi. He was covered in paint and had every intention of taking a shower before anything else.

"I hope you picked up your mess down there!" Itachi yelled up the stairs before waving goodbye to Sakura and heading out the front door.

Sakura's life was almost "the best of both worlds." She had the comforts of a relatively large home with air conditioning as well as expensive furnishings, nice cloths, and a family. But along with the riches she still understood the value of hard work and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Sakura counted herself fortunate in so many ways. She and Sai were related by blood, however Itachi wasn't they're real dad. Itachi had adopted them along with his cousin Shisui. Sakura and Sai had been only five years old, both of them being fraternal twins, when they were adopted. Sakura had never known anything about her past before the orphanage. She was not even 17 years old, and determined to live her life to the best everyday. She even had a tattoo on her left shoulder blade that said "carpe diem" above a cherry blossom branch with pink cherry blossom flowers. She got it without Itachi knowing, or Shisui for that matter. Sai knew, but didn't care enough to do anything about it. His logic was that it wasn't his body, so it wasn't his problem. It was a reminder to herself about who she was and where she came from. It was her most precious secret that seemed logical to only be known by her twin.

After thinking too hard for too long, she realized that she'd already straightened up the guest room. She'd made the bed with new sheets, dusted, and vacuumed. When she smiled to herself with satisfaction, she decided it was high time she took Shenandoah out for a spin.

* * *

Sasuke stepped off the plane. He was no longer in Japan and he knew that quite well. His English was excellent, so he didn't really have anything to worry about, but he got this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw his older brother standing there with a smirk plastered on his face.

"_This can't be happening…"_ he thought to himself walking towards Itachi.

Sasuke's brother already had the suitcase in one of his hands and the other in his jean pocket. They both silently walked to Itachi's car. Sasuke wasn't surprised to see his brother throw his suitcase into the dirty bed of the Dodge Ram truck. It was a stereotypical red with scratches and dings all over it.

"You're such a hick…" Sasuke grunted as he got into the passenger seat.

Itachi scowled before he shot back, "And you're such a spoiled city-brat."

Sasuke scoffed as he crossed his arms and glared out the window at the surrounding grasslands. There weren't even radio towers as far as he could see. There were no malls, theaters, or any sign of industrial progression. Only after twenty minutes had passed, Sasuke saw a small, upper-class suburban town. It was quaint and almost seemed like a 'miniature', non-sky-scraper version of a city. After about thirty more minutes Sasuke saw nothing but grassland again. He was getting frustrated at the lack of diverse scenery from that point on and almost felt like pulling his hair out because of the heat.

"How can you _live_ like this?" Sasuke finally grumbled expressing his irritation an hour later.

"Foolish brother, you have such a skewed view of life" Itachi said as he pulled onto a dirt road that eventually led to the ranch house.

Sasuke had half expected a dinky log cabin, but was pleasantly surprised to find a three-story ranch-house. It was a dull tan with brown shutters. The house was definitely smaller than what Sasuke was used to, but he knew that it was better than what he had imagined it to be. Itachi went around to the back of the truck and pulled Sasuke's bag out and dropped it on the ground. Itachi just smirked as he walked towards the front porch.

"Excuse me" Sasuke growled as more of a demand for an explanation than a question, "What do you think you're doing?"

Itachi looked over his shoulder with a slight scowl as he growled, "They're _your_ bags. Carry them _yourself_."

Sasuke let out a growl of his own and picked up his bags. Itachi showed him to his room and Sasuke threw his bags on the floor with a huff and signature bad temper.

"Lunch is in half an hour" Itachi informed his little brother before closing the door and leaving to go downstairs.

"So how goes it?" Shisui asked as he saw a relatively grumpy Itachi make his way down the stairs.

"Not good" Itachi replied, "He has zero respect for anyone. It's worse than what mother said."

Shisui made a cringed face as he dramatically said, "Ouch."

At that moment, Kisame walked into the room covered in sweat. He wiped his brow as he walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Wash-up for lunch!" Itachi hollered into the kitchen from the bottom of the steps earning him a grunt from the fish-faced man.

"You never were good with animals, were you?" Shisui teased causing Itachi to punch him in the shoulder.

Itachi scowled before reprimanding his cousin, "Kisame's always been my friend, and everyone here comes from a different background, so just suck it up and deal with it."

Shisui shrugged as he plodded over to the kitchen to finish up making lunch.

* * *

Once Sasuke had taken a quick shower and thrown on a pair of new cloths (expensive, as usual), he jotted down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. He was appalled at what he found spread across the kitchen table. There was friend chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy, and fried okra.

"You expect me to eat _that_?" Sasuke muttered pointing at the food on the table.

Shisui, who was at the stove finishing up, turned around and yelled, "Listen here you brat! You can insult this house, insult our cloths, insult our daily rituals, but you will _not_, you will _never_, insult _my_ cooking!"

Sasuke just sweat dropped and walked out the back screen door onto the porch. He walked down a couple steps and was headed towards the barn just out of sheer curiosity. However, as soon as he was a few meters away from the doors, he heard a wild shout and thumps headed his way. It was a girl and horse covered in mud. He couldn't even tell it was a girl until she let out a wild shout of excitement he mistook for an Indian tribal call.

"You didn't…" Itachi muttered as he walked out of the barn facing Sakura.

"Oh, I _did_" she stated with pride.

"Did what?" Sasuke asked confused and left out.

Itachi pinched the skin on the bridge of his nose as he answered, "She went to the lake and rolled in the mud with the horse."

"What the hell?" Sasuke grumbled to himself as the girl slid off the horse.

She was riding bareback, covered in mud, like a banshee, that took skill. But Sasuke wasn't one to accept that as 'skill' since it involved something as grotesque as _mud_.

"Wash-up please" Itachi ordered pointing at the hose attached to the outside of the barn, irritated at the pinkette's antics.

Sakura hopped off the horse and went over to the hose and turned it on. Water shot out everywhere. Sakura took hold of it and started to rinse off Shanondoah. The mud shot off the horse and splattered right onto Sasuke _and_ his expensive clothes. Sakura heard the discontent grunt and looked on the other side of the horse and began to laugh.

"What? Pretty boy can't stand to get a little dirty?" She teased.

Sasuke glared at her intensely as he slowly walked over and said, "I've only been here for less than an hour and I _already_ dislike you."

Sakura returned the glare as she hissed, "The feeling's mutual, you prick."

Sasuke reached over and took hold of her wrist that held the hose as he started to spray her with the water causing the mud to wash off. He had to admit that her hair color was pretty crazy. Pink? Really? But it matched her personality: loud. Itachi stepped out of the barn and smacked his bother over the head causing him to let go of Sakura and her hand holding the hose, and rub the back of his head. Sakura ungracefully fell backwards onto the ground with an 'umph!'. Sasuke looked at the hose with slight disgust before rinsing himself off with it until his cloths clung to his chiseled body then dropped it on the ground with a displeased expression as he walked towards the house. Itachi set towels out for both of them on the porch. Taking one of the towels, Sasuke dried himself off as best as he could. He took a quick glimpse over his shoulder and saw Sakura leading her horse into the barn. He quickly stepped inside and planned on getting dressed in new cloths, again. Sasuke stepped into his room and removed his shirt and jeans. In his boxers, Sasuke searched through his suitcase for something to wear.

"I have some cloths you can borrow for the rest of the day" came Sai's generous offer as he stood in the doorway.

"No thanks" came Sasuke's blunt reply.

Sai walked into the room and continued his argument, "We still have work for the rest of the day."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes then said, "Work? Excuse me? I don't think you understand…"

"No I don't think _you_ understand" Shisui returned the sass where he was standing in the hallway, "Everyone in this house who eats, works. End of story. Not negotiable."

The two boys walked into Sai's room then over to his dresser. Sai pulled out a pair of plain Levi jeans and a white Hanes shirt. Sasuke thanked him halfheartedly as he threw them on and the two went downstairs for lunch.

"Help yourself" Shisui said, "The plates are over there."

Sasuke clenched his teeth as he put the fried foods onto his plate. He wasn't used to a "commoner's cuisine," so to speak. The only reason why Sasuke even considered eating it is because he had nothing else. He had his phone, but he was out of the country with no service and there was no higher class dining place any-where within a 50 mile radius. Sasuke slowly lifted a bit of the fried chicken to his mouth. Itachi was carefully watching his little brother as he saw him slip the chicken into his mouth. Sasuke chewed and then swallowed and did an evaluation. He deemed it edible, and flavorful, but was a tad too rich for a lunch food. All in all he actually liked it. To say he was surprised would be an understatement, but like a true Uchiha, he didn't let it show on his face. Itachi took notice to how his brother had no more qualms about eating the home-cooked meal and went back to eating his own.

"_It's already started…"_ Itachi thought to himself as he smirked.

* * *

Sasuke put his dishes in the sink and then tried to make his way upstairs, but Itachi stopped him saying, "You're going with Kisame to make a new barb-wired coral for the cattle in a pasture a few miles east of here."

Sasuke stopped halfway up the stairs then jogged back down with a glare and his arms crossed. Sasuke wasn't a huge fan of work, but he knew he didn't really have a say in the matter.

"Seriously?" Sasuke asked in a rude tone.

"Seriously" came Itachi's undebateable reply.

Kisame honked the horn of the truck out back by the barn, signaling Sasuke to hurry-up. As Sasuke approached the truck the girl Sasuke saw earlier came out yelling.

"I want to come too!" she shouted waving her arms like a crazed banshee.

"There's not enough room in the truck…" Sasuke muttered pinching the skin on the bridge of his nose.

Kisame gave Sasuke a toothy, mischievous grin as he said, "She can sit in your lap can't she? She's your adopted _niece_ after all."

"_Adopted_ doesn't mean a damn thing when you're the _same age"_ Sasuke snarled while throwing Kisame an infamous Uchiha death glare.

The shark toothed man simply snickered as the pinkette walked up to the passenger door.

"Hop-in" Kisame invited her.

Sakura looked around the cramped cab as she asked, "Where?"

Sasuke pointed behind him as he coldly said, "The back."

"She can't sit back there!" Kisame protested, "It's full of barb-wire!"

"And that's a problem?" the Uchiha asked apathetically.

Sakura ripped open the door and sat on the Uchiha as she sneered, "This works just fine thanks" and crossed her arms.

Sasuke was reluctant to not just shove her back out of the car, but he decided to ignore her presence by glaring out the window at the countryside like it was supposed to catch on fire.

"How much longer?" Sasuke asked, growing more uncomfortable by the second for more reasons than one.

"We're here" Kisame said pointing to a metal pole about fifteen feet tall with an orange flag on it as a marker.

When Sakura opened the door Sasuke shoved her off his lap, out of the car, and onto the dirty ground. It wasn't that Sakura cared about getting dirty; it was the way Sasuke was treating her that made her angry. He was acting as if she was a servant and he owed her nothing. It was true that he had no real reason to be 'nice', but he lacked manners and common courtesy.

"What the _hell_ is your problem!" she shrieked as Kisame walked around to the back of the truck to unload all of the tools and supplies.

"You were cutting off the circulation in my legs" he stated unemotionally as he slid out of the car.

Sakura jumped up from the ground making a fist as she yelled, "Are you calling me _**fat**_**?!**"

"Yes" came his shameless reply.

Sakura came at him with the full intention of slugging him right in the kisser, but she was stopped by a blue hand wrapped around her wrist.

"He truly isn't worth it" came Kisame's semi-raspy voice.

Sakura relaxed and Kisame let go. She let her arm slink back to her side, but kept the ugly expression she had plastered on her face. The Uchiha gave her a nasty look of his own.

"Listen" Kisame butted into the glaring contest, "I know that you two obviously have no intention of making up, holding hands, and singing kumbaya. But if we don't get this done by sundown, then we'll have problems grazing the cattle. So suck it up, put your big girl panties on, and _both_ of you work together."

Sasuke gave his glare to Kisame at the 'big girl panties' reference, but Sakura just softened her face, still kept a slightly angry expression, as she nodded in compliance and agreement to Kisame's statement.

The three of them started to work on digging the holes for the posts. Sakura had surprising strength because she was able to pick-up a wooden post by herself, and she made it look easy. Sasuke just raised a brow and thought she just was putting on a believable façade. Sasuke followed behind her winding barbwire from post to post. He put three different rows and last but not least. Kisame made the gate to the coral.

Sasuke could feel his body vibrating in time with his pulse as he flopped down panting.

"Tired already?" Kisame asked cockily.

Sasuke slowly sat up with a grunt as he gave Kisame a glare. Sasuke had worked out at the gym several times. That's how he was able to have such a sculpted body, but he wasn't used to hard, manual labor. Sasuke slowly stood up and headed over to the car to step into the front seat. Sakura was in the empty bed of the truck since all the barbwire and wood posts were gone. Kisame drove as the sun set and by the time they got home it was dark. Sasuke flopped out of the truck and walked towards the house, drunk with fatigue. Sakura still had loads of energy. Good thing too because she still had to go herd the cattle into the new grazing corral. She jumped on her horse and went riding off with rope and a cowgirl hat like a yahoo.

"How the hell?…" Sasuke muttered to himself with a partially disgusted face as Sakura rode off in the dark.

Kisame smirked then asked "you mad that she works harder than you?"

"What is she even _doing?"_ he asked in annoyance.

"She's going to put the herd in the new corral, the one we just made, duh. Why else would it need to be done today?"

Sasuke scowled at him then retorted "I've never been on a farm because it's below me."

"Well you're here now. Get over yourself." Kisame said as he trudged into the house.

Sasuke looked out into the distance. Although the pinkette's silhouette was gone, he could still hear her bizarre shouts of excitement. Knowing that he was sweaty and disgusting he headed inside to clean up. He couldn't stand feeling muddy for too long. Pansy.

After all the showers and baths were took, Shisui called everyone down for dinner. Sasuke could feel the muscles in his entire body scream out in agony at the soreness wracking through his system. He limped down the stairs to find everyone waiting for him. The only open seat was between Itachi and Sai and across from Sakura.

"Kisame gave you a work-out, I see" Itachi said jokingly as he gestured Sasuke to come sit next to him.

Sasuke was reluctant, but he eventually walked over and plopped down in the seat. He wasn't too happy during dinner, especially when the pinkette decided to make fun of him.

"You should've seen him!" she laughed, "We weren't even half way through and he looked like he was about to die!"

Sasuke glared at the pinkette as well as kicked her under the table. Sakura yelped in pain and sent the Uchiha a glare of her own. Sasuke was bopped over the head by Itachi and Sai, Sakura was bopped over the head by Kisame and Shisui.

"Behave" Itachi ordered with an icy tone that was laced with authority.

"You will _not_ ruin my family dinner with your hoodlum behavior" Shisui added.

The rest of dinner was relatively silent. Sai bragged about a few of the paintings he'd been commissioned to do. Shisui boasted a few new recipies he'd learned, but the tension between Sasuke and Sakura was so intense that it was almost visible. The two never ceased sending each other dirty looks from across the table.

"Oh, that's right" Sai said as if he'd been enlightened, "Sakura still needs to take Sasuke to get some work cloths."

"I _have_ cloths" Sasuke growled with a scowl.

"But you won't work in them. They're too nice." Sai added with dry sarcasm.

Sasuke let a smirk grace his lips before retorting, "Who said I _wanted_ to work?"

"And who says you won't?" Itachi growled with finality.

"Tomorrow's Wednesday isn't it?" Kisame asked curiously.

Sakura smiled before adding "Yep! We still have 2 more months of summer vacation!"

Shisui looked over at Itachi before saying, "You've got that long to make your decision."

Sasuke looked confusedly at his older brother but didn't bother to ask what was going on. Sasuke didn't care at all. All he really wanted was to leave this godforsaken spit of land that seemed uninhibited by anyone within a 100 mile radius, trapped with rednecks.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So I guess it's been way over a week since I've updated, but believe me it's been the week from hell. I had to babysit this 5th grade brat that made me take her to some moon bounce shit hole called "Monkey Joes" where the whole place reeked of urine and I had to sit there with nothing to do for 6 hours. I've also gotten a part-time job that lasted me one weekend before the waitress told the manager a lie that I never helped her and I was a horrible slacker because I refused to help her with one lousy drink order because I was cleaning a table for a family that was waiting on it. Bitches be trippin'. My boyfriend also broke up with me on my first day of work. He came to my work on Memorial Day and said that he thought we were going separate ways and wanted to split. He's just saying that because he didn't graduate with the rest of us because he's so goddamn lazy so he'll have to repeat his Sr. year in high school. I had a freaking brain tumor and still graduated. But I also had my heart cut in two cause fresh off the break-up block, I found I guy a liked. 4 years older than me, spent 72 hours strait with me as we house hopped and got drunk different places. He would always wind up taking me in his arms and planting kisses on my forehead when he thought I was asleep, but apparently he does that to a lot of people and it means nothing.

Long story short, I'm done with love. All it's good for is motivating me to shave my legs. To hell with it.

* * *

Sasuke woke up the next morning to find the pinkette on all fours hovering above him. Startled, he shot upwards causing them to bump heads.

"What the hell?" he growled rubbing his head wincing.

Sakura just grabbed her head saying, "ow ow ow ow owww!"

"That's what you get for sneaking up on me."

"I wasn't sneaking! I was waiting for you to get up! We have to go shopping today."

"Bite me"

Taking his words literally, the girl grabbed Sasuke's arm and bit it. She knew it was below her maturity but she was fed up with his sore ass attitude, and she wasn't about to take any of his shit.

"What the hell was _that_ for?!" he growled as he ripped his arm away from Sakura with a little bit of blood dripping from it.

"You said to bite you. Don't tell me to do something you don't want me to."

"It's not a literal expression!"

"You're not a literal expression!"

"What are you? 4?"

"Doesn't matter, get up, get dressed, and let's _go_!"

"Leave." came his sharp reply as he angrily pointed to the door.

"But Itachi told me to take you shopping!"

"You can't make me."

"Oh yea? Watch me."

With that last remark Sakura left the room and Sasuke _thought_ that he had won. A few minutes later Sakura came in dragging a bucket and dumped its contents on the sleeping Uchiha. It was horse poop that Sakura had mucked out of the stalls that morning.

"What do you think you're _doing_!" he shouted as he sprung out of bed holding his arms away from his sides looking at his soiled silk pajamas, "These weren't _cheap_ you know?"

"Bite me!" Sakura shouted stomping her foot to show the Uchiha she could give him a taste of his own sass.

Sasuke then got an idea as he smirked and said with false sincerity, "Sakura, I'm sorry for all the mean things I've said to you since I came here. Why don't you come here and give me a hug?"

Sakura just put her arms our in front of her to keep the Uchiha at bay as she stumbled backwards yelling, "Oh no you don't! You stay _right_ there!"

Sasuke ignored her as he tackled her and both squirmed all over the floor making a mess of themselves and almost everything else in the room. Just then Sai came creeping around the corner and looked into the room. When he cleared his throat the two teens froze and looked to see him standing in the doorway.

"If that's you guys' way to get it on, then good for you, but I'm not cleaning this mess up" Sai said with finality that made the two teens start bickering at each other again.

"This is _your_ fault!" Sakura screamed, "You should've just taken a shower!"

Sasuke just glared at her as he replied, "Maybe _you_ should've just kept the horse poop outside where it _belongs_."

Just then Itachi walked into the room and saw the two teens wrestling there, the brown hand and foot prints everywhere and brown streaks all over the floor, bed, and walls, as well as the horrible smell piercing the air in the room. He didn't even say anything for a few minutes so he could gain his composure.

"Clean it up" he grumbled before turning 180 degrees and leaving to go back downstairs.

"What the heck were those two doing up there?" Shisui asked looking up from his book on the living room sofa.

"If you're so curious then look for yourself." Itachi grumbled as he headed back outside to tend to some of the outdoor chores, it was too early in the morning for this shit.

Shisui shrugged then headed upstairs and turned the corner shriveling his nose up. Before he could even ask what the smell was he walked into the room and saw for himself.

"Oh goodness…" were the only words that could escape his lips at the sight of the mess, "Now I know why Itachi was speechless…"

The two teens were currently scrubbing the walls even though they, themselves, had remnants of the dried dung on their cloths. They didn't even bother to acknowledge Shisui, because he never really said anything constructive anyway.

"You have to admit" Sakura snickered after Shisui was gone, "That _was_ pretty funny."

Sasuke just scowled. Nothing was appealing about being covered in horse shit, but he was sure that worse things were going to happen to him, so he wasn't going to get hung-up on this one thing. The two eventually got the place clean and changed the Uchiha's bed sheets. Then Sakura looked at herself and Sasuke as well.

"We really ought to clean up…" she grumbled as she walked towards her room to take a shower.

Sasuke didn't say anything back, but he headed to his shower to wash off all the fecal matter as well.

* * *

"This one!" Sakura shouted excitedly as she drug Sasuke into the nearest shop that looked like it had something good in it.

Sasuke cringed, it was just a standard t-shirt and jeans shop. How could Sakura get excited over this? Didn't she get spoiled by Itachi? Or is it that she _chose_ to live like a barnyard banshee? No matter how hard he tried, he really had no way of getting inside this girl's head, or understanding her.

"You have enough fancy rich person cloths so we're going to get you some _work_ clothes. That way you don't have to keep borrowing Sai's."

Sasuke just stood irritated while he watched Sakura scan over the sales rack. Why did it matter if it was on sale? Was it really important to save a few bucks? Had Itachi hit rock-bottom financially? Sasuke couldn't even fathom why the clearance rack was so important. It was just clothing nobody wanted anymore because it was out of season and out of style, i.e. clothing _he_ didn't want.

"Go try these on" Sakura stated flatly throwing some jeans at him.

Sasuke grumbled and walked into the changing room and put on the pants. They were a few sizes too big and he sweat dropped to himself _"does she really think I'm this fat?…"_

Sasuke came out having to hold the pants up by the waist and Sakura had to hold back a chuckle as she asked, "You didn't tell me your pant size fatty, so I just assumed. What size _are_ you?"

Sasuke wiped a frustrated hand over his face. He wasn't in the mood to deal with her shenanigans and underhanded insults, "34" he stated with irritation as he trudged back into the dressing room.

"God" she huffed under her breath, "What a pre-madona."

"I heard that" he grunted audibly from the changing room throwing the too-large jeans over the stall door right onto Sakura's face.

She had several more hours of this to go. God save them both because she wanted to kill him.

* * *

"How lovely" Shisui commented coming down the stairs looking at Sai's painting, "Too bad you don't see wild horse herds like that anymore. They've all been taken off of the government land and relocated to stables and domesticated."

"Not all of them" Sai said plainly as he swooshed with yet another stroke of his brush, "Some of them still roam around here if you look for them."

"Well Shenandoah is quite an exception" Shisui chirped.

"She's not the only one."

Shisui just gave Sai a quizzical brow. He hadn't ever seen any wild herds since they'd moved there. Most wild herds were taken into captivity from being on government owned land as usual, so it was extremely rare to see a wild horse. However that didn't stop Sai from the inspiration of his newest collection of commissioned paintings. Shisui left the artistic boy to his work and shuffled upstairs to see Kisame drinking a glass of water from the tap.

"You're all sweaty" he said with a disgruntled face as the fishy looking man leaned on the counter.

Kisame narrowed his eyes and retorted, "and you're all primp and prissy."

Shisui just threw the rag he was wiping the table down with at him to wipe off with, then throw in the laundry rag bin. The two of them didn't always get along, but those small skirmishes of insults were usually as intense as things usually got.

* * *

"So what's up with fish face?" Sasuke asked harshly as they sat at a food court table in the mall.

Sakura took on a very serious face and a displeasing look as she hissed at him, "Don't judge _anyone_ by their appearance, you stereo-typing, egotistical prick."

Sasuke just kept a hard glare on her before asking, "You gunna tell me or not?"

"You're incredibly rude, you know that? I'm _not_ your secretary. I'm _not_ your maid. I'm _not_ your mother, though I hope you don't treat her with the same, little amount of respect as you seem to treat everyone else with. And I am _not_ your servant here to do your personal bidding and grant you every morsel of information you desire. Learn to ask nicely, and maybe someone might be willing to have a civil conversation with you. Living a life free of arrogance is worthwhile. You should try it some time."

Sasuke had never been lectured by a girl the same age as him before. He was used to all of his fan girls being on his side and agreeing with him and his dictating personality. However, it was obvious at this point to both Sasuke and Sakura that she wasn't going to tolerate it. The rest of lunch was silent because Sasuke refused to swallow his pride and ask "nicely," and Sakura was too irritated to find a new conversation topic. After two more stores Sasuke had a whole new wardrobe of work cloths and he and Sakura were back on their way to the ranch. Sasuke felt embarrassed to be riding in a beat-up, pick-up truck. It was bad enough to be driven home from the airport in it, but now this malarky too?

"You really need to grow up. There's no paparazzi following you around. You aren't famous here, no one out here cares about you besides your brother. Riding in an old truck isn't going to put you in a scandalous tabloid. Lighten up."

That was the second time today Sasuke had been lectured by this pinkette, and he wasn't in the mood for it either. He was in a bad frame of mind as it were, but her lectures were seemingly making it worse. The timing of each of them was impeccable and hit to the core. He was up to his boiling point and about to explode if he couldn't get away from this tyrant of a girl. It looked like the sun was setting as the sky turned orange and they pulled into the dirt driveway of the ranch. Sasuke got out and went inside while Sakura shouted at him to come carry his own crap into the house.

Eventually she got fed-up and took the bags inside herself but made sure to cover them in a sufficient amount of dirt and then throw them on his bed.

"What the hell?" he sneered from where he was sitting at his desk on the computer, "Why did you cover them in dirt? We _just_ changed them this morning."

Sakura put her hands on her hips and got right in his face and hissed right back, "You need to learn to carry your own shit, and since I had to carry it _for_ _you_ this time, _you're_ going to do something else. In this situation, I would say strip off you sheets and wash them. Don't you think carrying the bags would've been easier?"

Little did the two know that Itachi was standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face. When both of them broke away from their sinister staring contest to look at him he nodded at Sakura which basically meant she could make him clean them.

"What do you say we wash them by _hand_?" Sakura asked menacingly.

Sasuke was not looking forward to the rest of the evening and just put a hand over his face already feeling a headache setting in.

* * *

"There. Hang them up on the cloths line and use pins to keep them from blowing away."

Sasuke was beyond angry that she'd been breathing down his neck during the whole process making him work. Having to scrub his sheets on the washboard by hand made his shoulders ache almost as much as when they put up the corral. Sakura was satisfied that she'd taught the Uchiha a lesson the hard way and went inside to grab her riding boots.

"Sakura, dinner will be ready in an hour. Don't go out for too long, ok?" Shisui said cheerfully as he put a few pots and pans on the stove and began preparing dinner for everyone. Sai even came up from the studio downstairs and saw Sakura grabbing her boots and excitedly ran to get his.

"Wait" she told him somberly, "I was going to take the brat as a special treat. I promise I'll take you next time. I know how inspirational it is for you, so I promise next time it's just you and me, ok?"

Sai just crossed his arms like a small child with a dull expression and skulked back down to the basement. Sakura huffed. He really did love to go on rides with her, didn't he? Sakura grabbed her backpack and filled it with raw, whole carrots out of the fridge and ran outside to go hop on Shanondoah. She scurried to the barn, and Sasuke was rather confused as to why she was going out riding so late. She came out bareback on her horse as usual and rode over towards him.

"Here" she said as she took off her backpack and handed it to him, "Put that on and hop on behind me. I want to show you something."

Sasuke was hesitant but slid the small leather bag on over his shoulders and jumped up onto a nearby storage crate by the barn and hopped onto the horse behind Sakura and started wabling.

"How do I stay on this thing if there's no saddle?" he asked while trying to keep his balance.

Sakura smirked then said, "Just hold onto me, I guess."

Sasuke looked at his hands disbelievingly and slid them around Sakura's waist and the horse took off down several trails and Sasuke wound-up getting all kinds of leaves and briars caught in his hair as they zoomed through the woods. Eventually he comfortably rested his head on Sakura's shoulder blade and almost let a blush grace his face. Then they were suddenly riding in the wide open. Sasuke's head shot up looking around at the wide grasslands with a few trees around, then looked over to the side where it looked like there was some sort of gathering of animals.

"Did some of the cattle get loose?" Sasuke asked confused as to why there were roaming animals around outside the coral.

Sakura smiled as she said, "No. Those are wild horses."

Sasuke's eyes went wide as they rode up to the herd and he realized they really _were_ wild horses, but for some reason they didn't flee from him and Sakura as they rode up.

"Go visit girl" Sakura said cheerfully as she slid off Shenandoah then helped Sasuke off and gave her horse a gentle slap on the flank.

Sasuke looked skeptically as Shenandoah took off towards the herd running around the open grasslands playing with a few of them.

"She… them?…" Sasuke asked further puzzled by the situation.

"She's _one_ of them" Sakura said smiling, watching her horse, "I caught her out here and tamed her myself."

"Have you ever put a saddle on her?" Sasuke asked skeptically sitting down in the grass watching them as well.

Sakura sat beside him then let out a sigh and said "Never have, never will. She isn't a saddle horse, she's a _my_ horse."

Sasuke didn't quite understand what she meant but it was obvious she had a lot of respect for the creature she rode on.

"Saddles create things like rashes and hot spots, so I don't like her to use them. I can ride on her without one just fine, but if I have to I can use a blanket or something soft."

Sasuke now realized that the reason she was so apparently good at riding bareback is because she probably had never ridden in a saddle, at least not on _her_ horse.

"Why aren't they afraid of us?" He asked looking around at the wild stallions and mares just feet from where they were sitting.

"Because" she huffed standing up, "They see how I treat one of their own, so they consider me one of their own as well. And you're with me, so that's why they aren't shy with you either."

Sasuke noticed a few colts that came up sniffing the backpack and jumped a little. He was tempted to shout at them to quit chewing on his clothes, but he didn't want to frighten them. Sakura just laughed at him and his gestures of confusion and avoidance.

"They're doing that because they want what's in the bag" she chuckled walking over to him.

Sasuke took the bag off his back and opened it only to be surrounded by horses on all sides. Sakura pushed her way through the rough crowd and managed to grab a few of the carrots out of the backpack to distribute them among the many horses.

"How many are there?" Sasuke asked as he hand fed some of them carrots.

"Probably 30 or so" she answered casually then shouted, "Oh lookie!"

She ran off towards a particular horse that stood head and shoulders above the rest. He was black as night with a mane even darker than that. Sasuke thought he looked like some majestic horse out of a knights' tale.

"This is the head honcho" she cooed petting the large creature playfully, "I call him onyx."

"Wonder why" Sasuke grumbled rhetorically as he casually stalked up to the horse.

For some reason the horse found Sasuke displeasing and went on his hind legs neighing, causing Sasuke to fall backwards on his ass in the grass as a reflex.

"Woah boy!" Sakura tried to calm him as the horse huffed through his nostrils at the boy on the ground, "He's not a bad person, he just has a bad ego. I promise."

It was almost as if the horse spoke english because he turned around and kicked some dirt up on Sasuke before walking away towards some grass under a tree to graze on.

"What the hell is _his_ problem?" Sasuke asked angrily swatting the dirt off his cloths as Sakura helped him stand back up.

She sheepishly grinned scratching the back of her head as she said, "Well, he doesn't take too kindly to people in general. He didn't even like me at first."

"So he likes no one?"

"He's always liked Sai."

"Sai's been here?"

"He comes all the time with me."

"Oh"

The two teens walked around the pasture and played with the horses some more. Sasuke found a particular black colt especially glued to his side. He was so dark that the moonlight made his coat look navy blue. Sasuke humored it and played with him a little, but he eventually decided that too much time had passed and that they needed to head back for dinner. He had to peel Sakura away from the horses, mostly because she kept feeding them and they wouldn't let her leave. However she whistled for Shanondoah, and as soon as both teens were mounted on top of her, it was obvious it was time for them to leave and the other horses quietly complied, pacified, as they rode away.

"I hope both of you filthy children washed your hands" Shisui scoffed as he set the food down on the table in front of everyone while the two took a seat.

Sakura rolled her eyes. They'd gone horseback riding, not cat fish noodling or something. On top of that of course she washed her hands.

"I'm weary of you since that little horse shit incident this morning" he added as he sat down himself.

"Language" Itachi sneered at his cousin giving him a cold stare from across the table.

* * *

_**To Be Continued….**_

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! I take a week to proof-read and go over them so as not to have any spelling or grammar mistakes for your reading enjoyment! Please read and review! ^(^0^)^


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So again, I'm sorry it's taken so long to update. I know it's a random Thursday, but it's the first day I've had off to proofread through this chapter to publish it. I got a job at a friend's clinic so I go to work in scrubs everyday and help people in physical pain and people with addictions. It's an anesthesiologist if any of you have heard of that? I get paid $12 an hour to check patient's in, organize patient charts, fax stuff, relay messages, and run around the facility doing other random things in my incredibly comfy scrubs.

On another front, I've also been busy most weekends cause I'm hanging with this guy I really like. It's one of those awkward things, cause I know a lot of you on here underage drink, I'm 18 and he's 22 so he goes and buys alcohol and the two of us get shit-faced drunk and pass out cuddling each other. Clothes stay on, hands don't wander (on purpose anyway), and the only kisses exchanged are on the cheek and forehead. But still, I can't help feeling scared to admit how I feel. I just keep doing things that make it blatantly obvious that I like him, and hope that he picks up on it. Hopefully my love stories turn out better than my own love life lol.

PLEASE REVIEW I LOVE T HEAR FROM YOU GUYS

* * *

Sasuke awoke in the morning to sore muscles and a pounding headache. He wasn't much for hard labor. It'd made his muscles sore and his pride even tenderer. It didn't help that he had a bad feeling when he looked at the clock and saw that it was 10am and no one had yet to disturb him. Weary that the pinkette was going to pop out at him with yet another bucket of horse crap, he crept out of his bed slowly and took his time to survey the room before making any sudden movements. He peaked out the curtains of his window into the back and saw Sakura neatly folding the sheets off the clothes-line that he'd washed days before into a basket. He was too lazy to bring them back in himself. Satisfied that the girl wasn't in close proximity to him, he decided to start his day with a bowl of cereal instead of directly hopping into the shower. He came down the stairs in his pajama pants and no shirt (his usual bed time attire) and Itachi just quirked a brow at his younger brother.

"Good morning sunshine, any reason you decided to go topless?"

Sasuke just gave his brother an expression of irritation with half-lidded eyes and retorted, "It's too early in the morning for your shit Itachi, just tell me where the cereal is."

Itachi scowled. His brother's attitude was going to wind up getting him a beating before lunch.

"Unless you'd like me to cram a bar of soap down your esophagus I suggest you metaphorically wash that vocabulary out of your mouth. And when asking for something you could add a simple 'please.' Even father says please to people and he's the head of an entire corporation. A spoiled nobody like you can afford that one courtesy to others as well."

Sasuke just opened cabinets in the kitchen randomly scouring for breakfast foods not bothering to reply to his brother's morning lecture for him. He was tired of every person in the house having a nugget of wisdom to cram down his throat. The only person who hadn't verbally bitten his head off yet was Sai, but he'd hardly seen the kid since he practically locks himself in the basement except when they're doing chores or eating.

Itachi eventually grew tired of watching his brother rip open every cupboard and knew if the trend continued he'd get so irritated that he'd eventually break one of them.

"The cereal is the pantry over there" Itachi pointed to a cabinet around the corner near the dining room.

Sasuke huffed and closed all the cupboards in the kitchen and plodded over and scanned the shelves. There wasn't much to choose from, nothing particularly satiating. However the colorful fruit loops were what he decided on and he carried the box into the kitchen and started scanning the cupboards again for a bowl. Itachi stopped him before he opened the second one and went ahead and got a bowl down for him and a spoon as well.

"I don't think I need to tell you that the milk is in the fridge" he added as he walked out of the room to go outside onto the back porch.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he poured the cereal into the bowl, followed by the milk, and begrudgingly walked back up the stairs into his room, where he flipped the lid of his computer up and hopped onto his social networking site. He'd already had several notifications and hash-tags of "whoa he disappeared" and other things that made Sasuke slap a hand to his face. He had to answer all of them before someone filed a missing person's report.

* * *

Sakura had folded the sheets neatly into the basket and was about to head back inside when Itachi stepped out onto the porch with a cup of coffee in his hand and smiled at her.

"Come join me" he said as he patted the seat next to him.

Sakura sheepishly smiled as she set the basket down on the porch and sat in the seat and closed her eyes taking a deep breath, "It's days like this where I can _smell_ the freedom."

"What does that mean?" Itachi asked with chuckle taking a sip from his coffee mug.

Sakura shrugged as she spaced out looking at the barn, "I still remember those lonely controlled days in the orphanage. The patron was a mean and bitter woman. Every day was planned to a T and if you violated it, you were severely punished. There were never any surprises, because everyday was scheduled misery. Ever since I've lived with you, everyday, every sunrise, brings a fresh start, a new adventure. I might know what chores I have to do, or know I'm going to school, but that doesn't mean something exciting and unexpected won't happen. I have the freedom go riding on Shenandoah whenever I want. I can scream and shout like a wild animal if I want to. I'm allowed to _express_ myself. I have everything provided for me, and more. I'm beyond grateful, but the best part is, with this freedom I'm able to express my thanks as well, in everything I do. I'm happy to help. I'm happy to work. I enjoy having the freedom to do what I want, but what I want is to contribute. Living with you, Sai, Shisui, and Kisame have been some of the best days of my life. I can never give enough back."

Itachi actually had to sip his coffee to keep his eyes from watering. He'd never heard her say thank you to him so eloquently.

"I wish my brother shared your sentiment" he stated with an exasperated sigh.

Sakura just smirked, "He's always had a silver spoon in his mouth, so he doesn't know what dirt tastes like. You can't expect him to appreciate what he has if he doesn't know what it's like to not have it."

"That's true, I suppose. It's partially why my parents sent him out here. They shipped him off to me to work him to death and beat some sense into him. If he's away from the pristine city of spoils and out here where he can't get to it even if he wants to, then when he comes back he might have more appreciation for it, particularly more respect."

"I can see why they sent him out here. I wouldn't want to deal with his crappy attitude either."

Itachi chuckled, "You've been a huge help slapping some sense into him. I can tell he's slowly changing."

"_How_? I haven't seen anything in him change at all…"

"He ate fried chicken."

"And? Who wouldn't? It's delicious."

"It's what Sasuke would call 'commoner's cuisine,' and if he had a choice he'd rather eat sirloin steak or prime rib."

Sakura scowled, "So how has he changed?"

"After he made that remark the first night and wound-up eating it anyway, he hasn't complained about the food since. Not once that I've heard."

Sakura put her finger to her chin. He was right. That's only one thing though, and if he complains he probably knows that he'd starve anyway, because no one was going to give him money to go eat at a five star restaurant. The nearest one was deep in the city over three hours away.

"Well I have to go put these up in his room and wake him up before he sleeps the day away."

"He's actually already up, but I'd be careful. His mouth is already in good form this morning."

"Oh?" Sakura asked with an expression of interest, "Well, we'll just have to see how long that lasts, now won't we?"

Itachi smirked as he watched the pinkette scurry back into the house. The antics between those two kept him thoroughly entertained.

Sakura walked towards the egotistical brat's room to deliver his sheets and put them on his bed, but she was slightly disgruntled at what she found. He was shirtless.

Sakura knocked on the doorframe of his open room before entering and asking, "Any reason you're half naked?"

Sasuke just looked up from his computer screen and breakfast, annoyed, replying, "Any particular reason my partial nudity seems to bother _all_ of you?"

"I'm guessing Itachi poked at you too?" She chuckled as she walked over to strip his sheets off the bed and put on the new ones.

"Hn" came his bland catchphrase of acknowledgement.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him and proceeded to smooth out his comforter and place his pillows back onto the bed. Sasuke silently watched her in contemplation. He'd yet to see this side of her; the housewife. She was swift and precise like a true domesticated woman, yet he still had images of this girl riding up to the house, covered in mud, screaming like a wild banshee. She was like a yin-yang; wild, but responsible. It's like she knew exactly when to unleash each part of her personality. It peaked Sasuke's interest in the girl to a degree where he wasn't sure he was comfortable. Sakura looked up after putting the dirty sheets in the basket and saw Sasuke's heated gaze locked on her and let a tint of pink rise to her cheeks.

"Staring is rude you know..." she grumbled as she went over to his closet and emptied his hamper into the basket as well.

Sasuke drew his eyes back to the computer screen as he said, "I'm sorry. It's just rare to see you behaving like a person instead of a wild animal."

"I have manners too, mind you, if that's what you meant. If you keep making fun of me I won't show you a good time this afternoon after work."

Sasuke quirked a brow asking, "Work? I thought today was my day off."

Rolling her eyes Sakura answered, "We let you sleep in. That doesn't mean you're off the hook."

Sasuke just scowled at her and turned back to his computer not even bothering to reply to her.

"Is that your girlfriend?" Sakura curiously inquired as she looked at Sasuke's computer screen blown up with a recently uploaded picture of Karin.

"Not quite."

"But you like her?"

"Hn"

That question hit a nerve with the Uchiha, which caused him to close the lid of his computer and physically remove the pinkette from his room. Sakura let out a few grunts of protest escape her lips before the door was closed right in her face. Sasuke _really_ wasn't in a good mood now. She let out a discontented sigh before trudging back downstairs with everyone's laundry. That was mainly her and Shisui's chore realm; housework. However Sakura did do extra things with the horse and cattle. She also saw the mess Sasuke had left in the kitchen after making his breakfast. He'd left the milk and the cereal out. Sakura just decided to put it away instead of going up and giving him more grief.

* * *

"You ready to do the laundry?" Shisui asked in his happy tone of voice that he usually greeted the pinkette with.

She nodded and Shisui carried out the baskets of laundry he'd collected along with the baskets Sakura had collected, and they both headed outside to the washbasins and boards to wash the laundry by hand. They could've invested in a washing machine. However Itachi just didn't see why. Sakura actually enjoyed doing laundry by hand, because it gave her time to talk to Shisui who was like a more gentle fatherly figure to her. She talked to him with confidence almost as if he was her mother. As odd as that sounds (no he's not gay, just slightly more feminine).

Sakura set the basket of her, Sai, and Sasuke's laundry and started with the raven haired boy's.

"Wow" Shisui commented, "I guess you really do like him."

Sakura looked up from her wash board with a quizzical expression as she asked, "Who?"

"Sasuke. You're washing his underwear, aren't you?"

Sakura hadn't really realized that she had pulled cloths out from his basket first but blushed when she realized the garment that was in her sudsy hands.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked with a blush.

Shisui smiled already having intuition on where this conversation might be going, "Of course."

Sakura hesitated a little while scrubbing Sasuke's clothing then finally asked, "How do you know if it's worth pursuing someone?"

Shisui stopped scrubbing the shirt he had on his washboard and looked at Sakura a little astonished at her rather deep question, "I don't know… I suppose it's when you touch them in the littlest ways, and it feels like nothing else you've ever come into contact with. When every word that pours out of their mouth is like a story you never want to end or stop listening to. When being in their presence brings you comfort. Sometimes love is instant, and sometimes it needs room to grow, but as far as pursuing someone, if they even give you the slightest inclination of feelings you should always investigate. You'll know what to do when a situation presents itself."

Sakura nodded and scrubbed in silence, reflecting on his advice. Shisui made a mental note to himself to talk to Itachi about it later. Sakura had never taken an interest in boys before, and Sasuke didn't give him the impression as being a boy who played by the rules. The last thing he wanted was for Sakura to get caught up in a bad boy's ego and come crying home with a broken heart.

* * *

"So what bit _you_ in the ass?" Kisame asked as he and Sasuke were stacking boards to build a new chicken coop.

Sasuke wiped some sweat off his brow answering "Hn"

For that, Kisame threw a hefty two-by-four at the raven haired boy's face.

"What the hell was that for!" he shouted irritated, cupping his already bruising cheek.

"When an adult tries to hold a conversation with you, you don't brush them off like that. You don't seem to learn well when people tell you things, so I'll just _beat_ it into you. Bruises and all."

Sasuke was appalled at his blatant disregard for his safety. What if that board had hit him in the eye? What then? Sasuke was struck speechless.

However after moments of silence he gave Kisame his own little nugget of wisdom, "Child _or_ adult, no one likes having their personal life pried into. If I wanted you to know, I would've told you."

"Fair enough" came his raspy reply.

The two seemingly worked in silence the rest of the afternoon and finished about 80% of it. There were some fine touches left to do and the painting as well.

Sweaty and exasperated, Kisame and Sasuke walked back into the house to find lunch already on the table.

"Wash your hands" Shisui chirped as he got down plates, but took one look at Sasuke and cringed, "What happened?"

Sasuke pointed to his bruised cheek with a questioning expression, "This?"

"Yes, _that_."

"Ask fish-face" he sneered as he made his way towards the bathroom to wash his hands.

"Sasuke wait, could you go get Sai and Sakura from the barn before you wash up?" Shisui asked.

The raven-haired boy rolled his eyes but went out the back door, across the yard, and into the barn. The large door creaked open and Sasuke saw the five or so stalls, each with a horse head sticking out of it. He patted a few until he came to a stall with a horse being groomed by none other than the pinkette herself.

"Lunch is ready" he nonchalantly grumbled as he crossed his arms leaning up against the stall door.

Sakura was a bit pre-occupied and didn't even look at him, but replied, "Thanks, I'll be in in about fifteen or so minutes."

Sasuke looked around then asked, "Where's Sai?"

"In the back, polishing and cleaning the riding gear."

"Hn."

Sasuke walked away from Sakura's stall and made his way towards the back room where all the leather riding gear and other horse grooming items were kept. He opened the smaller sliding wooden door to find Sai sitting on a bench with a cloth, polishing a saddle.

"Lunch is ready."

Sai looked up from his work and just stared in silence.

"Fish-face hit me with a two-by four. It's not that big of a deal, stop staring."

Sai then got up and put the saddle down and was walking towards Sasuke and put a hand on his shoulder, "Kisame's a little rough around the edges. You'll just have to excuse him, I'm sorry."

Sasuke just slapped a hand to his face in irritation but wound up slightly hitting his bruise and cringed. Damn that blue skinned bastard. After Sai had headed towards the house, Sasuke assumed Sakura would follow him out, but when he only saw Sai walking into the house he turned around and walked back into the barn to find Sakura still grooming the horses.

"You take a long time."

Sakura was still shuffling around the stall and snipped at him, "Just go, and I'll be there in a minute. I'm almost done."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. She could be so stubborn sometimes. He just decided not to bother arguing with her, it's not like he would really help her anyways. He hated working. He walked back into the house and stood next to Sai and washed his hands then dried them off on the kitchen hand-towel and sat down at the table.

"I would say grace, but Sakura isn't here yet…" Shisui sneered while giving the youngest Uchiha a critical sideways glance.

"Don't look at me like that" he replied irritated, "I went out there and told her the food was ready."

Right after he said that the Pinkette came bursting into the kitchen from the back porch and went over to the kitchen to wash her hands then hastily sat down across from Sasuke and looked around the table at everyone and stopped right on Sasuke's bruise on his face.

"Oh my god" she huffed, "What the fuck mauled your face?"

"_Language_" Itachi hissed firmly, slapping Sakura behind the head.

"Sorry…" she whispered with a sheepish face of guilt.

Sasuke just rested his head on his hand to hide the bruise on his face. Truth was, he wasn't embarrassed about it until Sakura saw it. Why did he care so much what _she_ thought? She was always rude to him anyway. The rest of lunch was filled with chitchat of Sai's paintings, how many of the livestock would give birth in the fall, and weird gibberish about the farm that Sasuke truly didn't understand, so he tuned it out and thought about back home. That picture he saw of Karin this morning was haunting him. She was smiling into the camera with her friends with peace signs like she was having a good time, but Sasuke knew better. Her eyes weren't smiling. He even got several messages from her telling him how much she missed him, but he knew if he replied it would make it lonelier for both of them. Besides, she still had Suigetsu. That bastard wasn't good for much, but in this situation, Sasuke figured he had some use in making Karin carry on. He even got messages from that scum telling him how Karin was more difficult and moping around everywhere she went.

"Earth to Sasuke" Sakura cooed while waving her hand in front of his face.

Sasuke swatted the intrusive limb away with a "Hn."

"I was asking if you wanted to go swimming with me?" she repeated herself for the third time.

"Sure" came his bored reply.

Swimming beat the hell out of painting the chicken coop.

* * *

After lunch Sakura grabbed a backpack and stuffed what Sasuke considered rather random items into it. Then in her bikini top, cover up, and shorts, ran out the back porch. He wouldn't lie, she had a hot body. She wasn't built like a fragile, skinny girl, she was toned with muscles, but not so much that she didn't look feminine.

"Hurry up!" she shouted as she ran to the barn.

Sasuke grumbled as he threw on his board shorts and put on a t-shirt and threw on his sneakers and followed Sakura out to the barn. He was surprised when she had a white mare out instead of her own horse.

"You aren't taking Shanondoah?" he asked quizzically.

Sakura shook her head and answered, "I'm taking her out later with Sai, so I'll let her rest for now. Besides, ol' Magnolia here hasn't had much exercise. You can't keep these animals cooped up all the time, ya know?"

Sasuke shrugged then asked, "Are you putting a saddle on her?"

"Of course. She's a quarter horse, so she's saddle broken."

"Are we doubling up?" He asked yet another question.

She smiled wickedly remembering how uncomfortable he was the last time, "No, not this time. I'll let you ride Nightingale."

After she'd bridled and saddled Magnolia Sasuke watched her go to the back room and pull out another set of riding gear and a helmet as well. She hung the saddle and bridle next to a stall then threw the helmet at Sasuke.

"No offense city-slicker, but since you aren't an experienced rider I'm going to have you wear that. Better safe than sorry."

Sasuke just raised a brow at her in a slightly condescending manner since she was partially insulting him. It didn't really hurt his ego, surprisingly. The only times he'd been on a horse were a pony at a festival when he was little and the night before with Sakura. He'd never actually controlled a horse himself, though he wouldn't tell Sakura that. It'd hurt his pride even more and she'd just treat him like a child.

Sasuke looked at the beautiful brindle coat stallion Sakura led out of the stall and started to gear up.

"Oh you…" Sakura grumbled before kneeing the horse in the ribs and tightening the saddle.

"That's a bit harsh" Sasuke grunted not liking the violent behavior towards the horse.

Sakura rolled her eyes at the ignorant boy then told him, "They puff out their chest when you put the saddles on, then they suck their stomachs back in and the saddle slips off and you go flying. If I didn't knock the air out of him before tightening it then you would've gone flying too. It doesn't hurt him like you think it does. I've done this enough times to know how."

Sasuke just put his helmet on then waited for Sakura to finish bridling the horse before he got on. She gave him a leg up and helped him into the saddle then grabbed the reigns of both his horse and hers and led them outside the barn and closed the door behind her.

"Is this your first time?" She asked curiously.

"No" he scoffed.

"Well ok then" she sighed hopping onto her own horse.

* * *

Itachi was watching from the back porch with a smirk on his face, Shisui standing next to him.

"What's so amusing?" Shisui asked Itachi.

"She doesn't know Sasuke's never ridden a horse."

"Oh dear, and she gave him Nightingale. God save him."

Itachi just shook his head and took a sip from his iced tea and headed back inside. They still had work to do around the house if it was going to be pristine.

"Have you thought about it?" Shisui asked

"About what?"

"That proposal your mother made you over the phone?"

"Yeah I have, and you know I can't say no. But don't tell Sai or Sakura yet, I don't want to upset them longer than I have to. They'll be fine if I just tell them a week in advance."

"Can I tell Kisame?" he asked curiously testing Itachi's width of patience.

"No. You know as well as I do how he has a soft spot for Sakura, and he'll tell her then she'll tell Sai and it'll defeat the purpose of keeping it a secret."

* * *

"Hn."

"No!" She shouted, "You don't need to pull on the reigns that hard. Just slightly pull it out to the side. They detect the slight shift and understand what to do. God you're impossible. I don't think you've ever handled a horse in your life."

Sasuke grumbled in dissatisfaction as his horse continued to ignore his every command. It was a good thing Sakura had verbal commands to correct the horse to keep it from veering away. Sasuke was beyond frustrated and was about to give up and ask Sakura to switch horses with him, but he was too full of pride to quit. He had to make Sakura believe that he'd ridden a horse before, even if it wasn't the truth.

"What was the point of bringing me anyway?" he asked somewhat begrudgingly that he'd been drug out of the house slightly against his will.

"I'm going to teach you how to live."

"I know how to live. I'm breathing."

"You exist, but you aren't _living_."

At that point, Sasuke for once had no retort. He couldn't argue with that assessment. There was a long pause of silence riding through the woods before Sakura added, "I want to show you my world."

Sasuke was surprised at that. For all the mean and rude comments she made, she wanted to share something as sacred as _her_ _world_ with him. He'd be surprised if she even shared one bite of her mashed potatoes at dinner. It astounded him even more that he was actually _excited_ to get inside her head. Getting to see how this banshee functioned would be a worthwhile investment of his time. Though why he was so intrigued by this one girl was beyond him. He wasn't sure he was comfortable with it, but for once in his life he just felt like going with the moment instead of logic.

After a time Sasuke saw a clearing in the distance. When they broke through the final row of trees, Sasuke saw a shimmering lake. Sakura quickly dismounted her horse and threw her light cover-up, backpack and shorts off and ran onto the dock but stopped.

"Crap" she hissed, "I forgot these horses need to be tethered. Tie them to the tree over there, Sasuke."

Sasuke dismounted his horse and casually walked over to the tree Sakura pointed to and double knotted the end of the reigns of the horses on a thick branch. Her backpack and clothes were in a pile at the base of the tree, and Sasuke added his helmet and shirt to the pile. Sakura ran to the edge of the dock and stopped yet again when the shirtless Uchiha was just scowling at her with his arms crossed at the base of the dock.

"What's _that_ face for?" she asked slightly frustrated with his attitude.

"This isn't my idea of 'swimming'." He snarkily answered her, "I have no intention of jumping into that murky lake water."

Sakura got a malevolent smile on her face as she answered, "Oh yeah? Guess I'll just have to make you."

"Let's see you try" he egged her on.

Sakura pulled a necklace out of her bikini top that just so happened to be Sasuke's prized dog tags. She dangled them over the water with a wicked grin, "Want to play scuba diver?"

Sasuke's eyes widened then snapped into a murderous glare as he asked, "Where did you get those?"

"They fell out of your sheets when I was making your bed this morning. Don't worry princess, I didn't find them next to your diary and tampons."

"Give those back" he sneered, "You have _no_ idea what that is."

"I don't need to" came her saucy reply, "I just know I need them to get you in the water."

Sasuke had heard enough. He charged at her with the full intention of getting his dog tags back He managed to pin her under him with her head hanging over the ledge above the water, but as soon as he grasped the chain and ripped the necklace from her hands, she put her feet on his stomach and flipped him over her head into the water. He fell into the lake with a splash. Luckily, he managed to hang onto the dog tags and quickly put them on around his neck then swam to the surface of the water.

"So how cold is it?" Sakura asked sheepishly as Sasuke spat some of the lake water out of his mouth.

"You're an asshole."

"I only asked how cold it was" she cooed as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"How about you feel for yourself?"

Sakura laughed as Sasuke jumped out of the water, pulling himself up onto the dock and chased after her. She got half of the way down when he caught her, slung her over his soggy shoulder, and ran back down the edge and jumped into the lake, taking her with him. Sakura came up to the surface of the water gasping for air, but she had yet to see the Uchiha break the surface.

"Sasuke?" she called skeptically, "Sasuke, this isn't funny…"

Finally she saw some of his skin break the surface, but it wasn't his face. It was his back.

"Sasuke! she shouted, panicked she grabbed him and struggled to pull him up onto the dock.

His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. Sakura leaned down and put her ear by his mouth. She couldn't hear him breathing.

"No… no no no no _no_" she whimpered repeatedly before she leaned down to resuscitate him.

Sasuke cracked open on of his eyes smirking, "You wanna kiss me that badly, huh? That you would do it while I was unconscious?"

Sakura gasped in surprise then hissed, "The _nerve_!"

For the first time in a long time Sasuke let out a hardy laugh and even put a hand over his stomach. He kept laughing until he coughed up a bit of water he'd swallowed. It was too easy pulling her chain.

"Or did _you_ want me to kiss you so badly that you would fake _drowning_?" She corrected him while dipping her face down towards him.

Sasuke stood up with his back to the lake and got an inch from her face, "Is _that_ what you think?"

Sakura didn't know what demon or angel had taken possession of her body at that particular moment, but on a whim of compulsive curiosity she closed the one-inch gap between them and put her lips onto his. The Uchiha was startled to say the least, but what he expected even less was for the pinkette to try and shove him off the dock right afterwards. He grabbed her arm while falling and pulled her in along with him with a slight yelp of surprise from Sakura.

"What was_ that_?" he asked when both of them had gotten back to the surface of the water.

Sakura's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink as she mumbled, "Nothing…"

"So you just put your mouth on everything?" he asked quirking a brow.

"_No_" she grumbled, "It's not likethat."

"Then what _is_ it like?"

"I don't know…"

Sakura at this point was full on blushing and had no idea how to reason her behavior.

"Let's just go back. We've been out here a long time. I'm gunna get sunburn if were in the heat much longer" she whined.

Sasuke shrugged and was more than happy to get out of the lake water. It was cold and refreshing, but he couldn't get over the brown color and plants that tickled at the bottoms of his feet.

"Carpe diem?" he said quizzically reading the tattoo he saw.

Sakura's eyes grew wide as she slapper her hand over her left shoulder blade and spun around shouting, "You can't tell Itachi!"

"Oh-ho-_ho_" came Sasuke's mockery, "Well it looks like I've just dethroned the Queen-B with a valuable piece of intel."

"You intend to _blackmail_ me?"

"Of course. Now I'll get some peace and quiet and no buckets of horse shit dumped on me."

"That was _one_ time! Would you just get _over it_ already!"

"After experiencing that fetid odor and unpleasantly dank texture? Never."

"My God you're such a five year old. Just don't tell him and I'll find ways to make living out here bearable for you, ok?"

"How?"

"Well you had fun swimming today, right?"

Sasuke crossed his arms and glared to his right at a tree on the shore of the lake. He couldn't deny that he had enjoyed himself more than he had expected to, but he couldn't admit it out loud due to his ego.

"It was alright."

"You _laughed_" she grunted, frustrated to get the truth out of him, "I've _never_ heard you laugh until today."

"I've only been here a few weeks, not an eternity" he rolled his eyes.

"Most normal people have a good laugh _everyday._"

"You should know more than anyone that being normal is overrated."

Sakura was _fuming_ mad. There was just no way to get through that thick head of his. Eventually, she took a deep breath and realized whether he wanted to say it or not, he _did_ have a good time.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura walked through the back door to find Shisui already beginning to cook dinner.

"Want to be my su-chef?" he asked Sakura sheepishly.

Sasuke just went strait upstairs to get a shower and wash off the murky water. Sakura nodded at Shisui and washed her hands then put on her green kitchen apron and started slicing vegetables and was put in charge of making the salad and mashed potatoes. She was pretty tired from work and play, but she knew she had an obligation to help. Eventually she finished making her share of dinner and headed upstairs to her own room to wash up. She didn't consider the lake water disgusting like Sasuke did, but if left on her skin for too long, it started to smell a bit funky. She got in the shower and scrubbed from her strawberry locks to her toenails. She knew she was going back out that night with Sai to see the wild horses, but she wanted to feel fresh.

"Dinner's ready" Sasuke said after he knocked on her door while Sakura was naked in her room.

Sakura grabbed her towel off her bed thinking he might come in but answered, "I'll be down in a minute."

She rushed to get dressed in her grungy rolled up sweat pants, a t-shirt that was two sizes too big, and a jacket. It was supposed to get cold that night, very cold.

When she came shuffling down the stairs, everyone was already sitting at the table. She sat in her usual spot across from Sasuke and then everyone said grace, "Itadakimasu" and dug in.

"Sakura," Itachi called as she and Sai were headed out to the barn, "Don't stay out too late. It's going to get dark soon, and it's supposed to be below freezing tonight."

"Alright" she complied with a smile as they went out to the barn.

"Where are they going?" Sasuke asked from over Itachi's shoulder, looking out the window.

Itachi crossed his arms watching them ride away and shrugged, "Hell if I know. Just as long as they're together I don't care where they ride. Sai will make sure she's safe."

"He's that protective of her?"

"Very."

"I haven't seen it."

"He hasn't needed to show it, yet."

"Yet?"

"He might come after you, at some point."

"Why?"

"I talked with Shisui earlier today, while you two were at the lake."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Don't play dumb. Everyone sees you two better than you see each other and yourselves. I'm just going to lay down the law right now: keep it in your pants."

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he scoffed, feigning ignorance.

"I just told you" Itachi grunted, "Keep it in your pants. And you _do _know what that means."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. It's not like he had intentions of reproducing with that pink-haired banshee, though the thought did make the blood rush to his cheeks.

* * *

Sai was feeding the horses carrots from Sakura's bag while the pinkette just sat on the ground, weaving grass into bracelets.

"What's wrong with you?" Sai asked curiously as he sat in the grass next to her, watching her weave.

Sakura let out a huff of air before grumbling, "I think I made a mistake, but I don't know…"

"Well, what did you do?"

"I kissed Sasuke."

Sai slapped a hand to his face. He knew something like this would eventually happen between the two of them, but he didn't expect it to be so soon.

"You know" he sighed, "I'm not sure I like him. He seems decent enough as a person, but he strikes me as the 'misunderstood bad boy' type who sucks you in, uses you, then tosses you aside."

"But…" Sakura sighed, "You don't know him like _I _do."

"You _don't_ know him" Sai scoffed, "He's only ben here a few weeks. Don't kid yourself, Sak."

Sakura just looked depressingly at the grass. As much as she would love to agree that Sai was right and move on, it was too hard. She had to see that boy's face every morning, everyday, and every night. It would be too hard for her to just avoid her feelings for him like he doesn't make her uncomfortable. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

* * *

Please review guys, I love hearing from ALL of you! It sends me an e-mail to my iPad the second you do. So chances are I'll see your review within an hour of you sending it, and if it's a question or something really interesting, sometimes I private message back!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. I figured you would want to hear how my amazing 3rd of July went. So basically we all went out to dinner at a local bar we all regularly go to. Then we went to one of our houses to watch Star Wars 3. While that was fun and all we had to part ways. So I wound up on the wrong side of town at my friend Nikki's house (she lives in west and I'm from east mine is the nicer side of town, not that I'm bragging). Eventually I did that math at 3am and realized that there was no where for me to sleep. I texted my guy friend I have a crush on and he said that I could come over to his place that he's renting with some friends. They just moved in so I didn't know if I was allowed over yet. But my phone died and I got lost on the way there so I had to pull into a Huddle House (Waffle House rip-off) and ask the waitress if there was any way for her to get me directions. Luckily before my phone died I memorized his address. A table of three cops overheard our conversation and one of them got up and told me if I went out to his car he could use his computer to get me directions. When he looked at it, he told me it wasn't that far away and he could take me personally. So I got a personal escort from the cops at 3am to my guy friends house. We watched movies and stuff for another few hours and got good and drunk. Then when I expected him to leave me on the sofa he pulled me up and held onto my waist and helped me stagger into his room and put me on his bed. We cuddled for the three hours we got to sleep. Then I'll tell you how my 4th of July went in the next chapter! STAY TUNED (it gets even crazier)

* * *

"Summer's more than half over" Sai huffed as he did the final strokes on his last oil pastel of wild horses for his commissioned work.

Over a month had gone by and Sakura wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. Between avoiding Sasuke by secluding her in Sai's art studio and only doing house work when Shisui was around and no one else, she was lonely. She wouldn't openly admit it out loud, but she missed messing with the youngest Uchiha. The kiss she gave him that day still occasionally haunted her thoughts and made her lips tingle. Eventually Itachi came down the steps to the art studio, a very rare occuance, and knocked on the door.

"Come in" came Sai's automated answer.

Itachi opened the door then leaned against the frame with his arms crossed.

"I've had it with your sulking young lady" Itachi grunted with a dissatisfied expression, "Look at you. You have dark circles under your eyes and your skin isn't glowing with vitamin D from the sun anymore because you don't go outside. You look sickly, and staying crammed down here won't help you."

"I agree" Sai chimmed in while washing his paint brushes in the sink.

"Come paint the chicken coop with me" Itachi offered, "It's been needing to be done for weeks. Fresh air will do you good."

"Fine. I'll be up in a minute."

Itachi rolled his eyes then went back up the stairs. He saw Sasuke sitting at the table with a cup of tea. Now to fix the other half of the problem.

"I didn't know you like tea…" Itachi muttered.

Sasuke took another sip before answering his older brother, "Coffee makes me too jumpy. I don't like the side effects."

"Well then…"

"She hates me, doesn't she?" Sasuke abruptly asked.

Itachi scratched the back of his head, "She doesn't _hate_ you, per say. She's just never felt anything towards the opposite sex, so you make her nervous and she doesn't understand how to cope. She's completely ignorant of the aspect of romance and has the sexual propensity of a toddler."

"She's _never_ had a boyfriend?"

"Never."

Sasuke continued drinking his tea, letting the reality of the situation sink in. Obviously she had willingly thrown away her first kiss on him. It was flattering, but disheartening at the same time. As much as he was 'interested' in the pinkette, his feelings still belonged to Karin. Until he could push through that wall himself, he didn't want to hook and reel-in an innocent girl from the tulles of California.

"I have no idea what I've gotten myself into" Sasuke huffed frustratedly."

Itachi quirked a brow at his little brother, but seemingly left the subject alone. If Sasuke wanted to tell him, he would have. And Sasuke knows his brother is all ears if he ever wanted to talk. Itachi decided both teens had spent enough time moping and avoiding each other.

"Sasuke go out to the chicken coop. you're going to help me paint it."

"Can I at _least_ finish my tea first?" he asked with plenty of attitude laced in.

"Yes, you have five minutes, drink fast."

Sasuke rolled his eyes with a "tch" as Itachi walked outside.

Suddenly Sasuke heard footsteps coming up the stairs and assumed it was Sai, but raised a brow at the pink locks of hair he saw instead.

"So that's where you've been hiding" he mocked with a chuckle and a smirk.

"_Who's_ hiding?" Sakura angrily snapped.

"Not me" Sasuke cockily retorted.

"God you're such an asshole" she seethed before trudging up the stairs.

"Hn."

* * *

Sakura came back down the stairs in her work clothes, bracing herself for Sasuke's cynicism, but found no one at the kitchen table anymore. She stared at the empty cup of tea on the table where Sasuke's lips had been, then gently lifted a hand to her own lips. Catching herself in the middle of a dangerous daydream she quickly shook her head. She casually walked out to the chicken coop seeing Itachi already painting.

"Sorry, I had to get dressed in my work clothes first" she apologized.

"It's fine" he said "just grab a brush and get started."

There was a long silence while the two of them painted the side of the coop red, but Itachi finally broke it.

"You know I drug you out here to talk to you…" he grumbled.

"Yeah I know"

"You can't avoid my brother forever in a basement studio."

"I can sure as hell try."

"That's no way to live your life and you know it. This is the longest you've gone without riding Shanondoah, and it makes me worried. You never act like this. If you keep locking yourself away, I'll send my brother to military school instead of living with us. Is that what you want?"

"_No_! Don't do that.. I'm just a coward. What I did wasn't well received, and now that I can't go back and change it, I don't know what to do."

"Are you saying you regret what you did?"

"I don't know yet…"

"What did he do to you?" Itachi asked with accusation in his voice.

"_He_ didn't do _anything_!" Sakura pleaded, "_I_ kissed _him_!"

Itachi's face turned red, "Well _that_ didn't take long…"

"What?"

"I knew my brother's aloof charm and charisma would have an affect on you, and he would surly be attracted to your outrageous personality, but I didn't expect either of you to act on it so soon."

"Well what I did was illy received, and I don't think he wants anything to do with my anymore. I'm stupid for thinking that letting him into my world would change him."

By this point Sakura was in tears, and Sasuke couldn't stand behind the tree where he was listening to the whole conversation any longer. He walked out from behind the tree and took Sakura in his arms, tears, snot, and all.

He put his mouth by her ear and whispered, "That's where you're wrong."

Itachi was stunned. He'd only seen this side of Sasuke on exceedingly rare occasions. Most of what people received from him was criticism and snarky back-talk. Sasuke wasn't one for affection either, so the hug was really over the top for Itachi to understand. Itachi didn't know what Sasuke had whispered in Sakura's ear, but she sobbed a little more and threw her arms around his torso. Itachi thought it would be best to leave them alone, so he put down his paint brush and slowly walked away back towards the house. they could finish painting another day. It was better to resolve the huge problems first.

"I thought you were mad…" Sakura whimpered into his chest.

Sasuke let out a sigh of mild frustrations as he answered, "Right now, I don't know what I want, but I _do_ care. You're an important person, whether I'm hugging you or insulting you. Don't forget that."

Sakura had stopped crying, but she was still holding onto Sasuke. The youngest Uchiha had noticed his older counterpart had evacuated the premises to grant the two of them some privacy. It was obvious that he wanted the two of them to work it out. They couldn't keep living in the same house avoiding each other with tangible tension hanging everywhere in the air.

"I'm sorry" Sakura finally whispered.

Sasuke put a hand on the back of her head while his chin rested on the top of it and replied, "There's nothing to be sorry for."

* * *

"I've never seen her so glued to anyone since she came here and was always next to Sai." Shisui said laughingly as he washed a few dishes in the kitchen.

The kitchen could be seen from the living room, so Sasuke didn't particularly like Shisui's ogling vantage-point. Sakura was out cold laying across Sasuke's lap while he drank some tea and read a book. He couldn't say he was particularly comfortable, but she looked so peaceful he didn't want to disturb her. That, and she was much more quiet and tolerable when she was asleep.

"Where _did_ she come from?" he asked while swiping a stray hair from the pinkette's face.

Shisui finished putting away the last of the dishes then sat down in the living room on the sofa next to Sasuke' so they could talk quietly.

"Well" he began, "She and Sai were orphaned at the age of four. They were taken to a welfare center in Shibuya and told their parents died in a car accident, so they were to live there since there were no relatives that could take them in, and that white lie has kept them from looking for their parents. The truth is they were orphaned because their parents abandoned them. Sakura's mother planned to get an abortion, but decided to give raising children a shot. However it didn't take her long to figure out that parenting _wasn't_ for her. She didn't know what to do, other than disown them. A close friend of the couple brought them to the welfare center. It was funny how we stumbled upon the two of them."

"Why? What happened?" he asked now engrossed in the story.

"You were five when Itachi told you he had to leave the country to find his own way. You resented him and stormed out of the house We came looking for you, and guess where you were?"

"The park?"

"No. You were in the orphanage playground, playing with a pink-haired girl when Itachi found you. He didn't want to be rude like you and jump the fence, so he went into the building. The staff separated you two, and he took you home."

"You're lying" he said skeptically.

"If I were lying then how could he have wanted Sakura? He would have never gone to an orphanage on his own."

"Who knows…"

"Itachi went back to the orphanage, or the welfare center, the next day to see her and thank her for taking care of you. But when he saw her she was covered in bruises. Long story short; he reported it to the authorities, who placed the center under new management, and came home with twins. Mikoto was beside herself to be a grandma, but Fugaku called him rash and irresponsible since he was barely an adult. Itachi made amends with you by saying he would take care of her and protect her for you while he went away and took her with him. You were so sad she couldn't stay, but I guess as time passed, you must've forgot."

"No, I remember now, but only her hair color is the same. She really blossomed into a Sakura."

"Punny" Shisui mocked.

"Tch. Where did Sai come into all of this anyway?"

"She absolutely refused to leave without him, of course."

"I guess that makes sense since they _are_ the only family each other has."

"She's had very limited contact with people, so I'm worried."

"Why?" Sasuke quirked a brow.

"You can't tell anyone, only Itachi and I know right now, but we're moving back to Japan, possibly back to the city. I honestly don't know what she'll do. All she's known for over ten years are these mountains and grasslands."

"When?"

"The end of summer."

"That's in less than two weeks. A bit too soon if you ask me.

"Itachi's already sold the quarter horses. The livestock, almost all the animals."

"Shanondoah?"

"Of course not. Sakura would have a coronary."

"But how will she keep a horse in the city?"

"Itachi's arranged to keep her at the family stables."

"How often will she be able to ride her?"

"Well, whenever she wants, but the riding land is significantly smaller there than here. I don't know if she can cope."

"As happy as _I_ am to go back, I don't think she'll share the same sentiment. Does she even know Japanese?"

"She did when she was little, but she's probably forgotten most of it by now."

"If you find some old grammar books or something, I'll teach her."

Shisui was surprised at his generous offer.

"I hope you know this isn't getting you out of your normal chores" he teased.

"Che" he grunted, "I'll still do it. Going to a foreign country is intimidating, but not being able to speak to the majority of the people around you is even more scary."

At that moment Kisame burst through the back door drenched in rain water.

"The cattle!" he gasped out of breath, "They've escaped!"

The crashing sound of the door had woken the slumbering pinkette, and after hearing about the cattle she was already reaching for her riding boots despite being in nothing but her pajama shorts and a white camisole.

"No" Sasuke grasped her wrist, "It's too dangerous."

"You don't think I know that? It's the time of dusk when all the mountain lions come out to prey on animals! We'll lose some of our cattle if I don't go!"

Sakura broke away from Sasuke's grip and grabbed the shot gun out of the closet by the back door, put on her boots, and ran out into the rain.

"You shouldn't have let her go" Shisui chided Kisame, "She's never had to herd cattle in rain like _this._ She can barely see in this storm. A mountain lion could _easily_ pick her off if she rides around by herself."

"No one besides Itachi can corral all of them like _she_ can. She's the only hope we have right now of saving the cattle."

"You should've come and got me _first_" Itachi grunted as he came shuffling down the stairs in his riding boots and rain poncho.

"She already took the gun" Shisui said as Itachi fled towards the closet.

"_Damnit_" he hissed then looked over his shoulder at his brother, "Come with me."

Sasuke didn't have boots, but he put on his tennishoes and a wind breaker, then flew out the door behind Itachi. He saddled a quarter horse then extended his arm so Sasuke could get on behind him.

"I'm worried" Sasuke whispered as they rode through the intense rain.

"Sakura's a big girl, she can handle herself."

"That's not the point" Sasuke said over the pounding of the rain and horse hooves.

* * *

Sakura had the gun slung over her shoulder on a leather strap while she rode Shanondoah, trying to locate some of the cattle. They were almost as senile as sheep the way they carelessly wandered about, but at least they were pack animals, so they'd be in groups. Sakura found the first cluster of ten or so and rode in circles around them to get them closer together. Then she herded them towards the corral and closed the gate. Someone had left it open on accident, and she didn't like naming people, but Kisame was the only one outside of the house at the time. Sakura finally found the last group of five and began to squish them into a small herd before leading them back into the corral. She was in a denser part of the meadow, which made her uneasy. She couldn't hear anything over the thundering rain, namely, a predator. She got to the edge of the forest when the mountain cat jumped out of the trees about to pounce on one of the livestock.

"No!" Sakura shouted as she grabbed the gun from over her shoulder and put a bullet into it's shoulder.

Itachi and Sasuke heard the shot from close by, and in less than a minute saw the horrible scene that played in front of their eyes. After the shot rang, the mountain lion after regaining its balance it ran towards Sakura, and with incredible agility, jumped and pounced Sakura right off Shanondoah's back.

"_Sakura_!" Itachi hollered, riding as fast as he could towards her.

Even as the rain continued to pour, the blood was visible running from the feline and from Sakura. Sasuke watched in horror as the animal sunk its claws into Sakura's arm and shoulder. She kept its teeth at bay with the barrel of the shotgun. Itachi didn't even bother to slow the horse down before jumping off, so he stumbled, but got a few feet away from the disaster not knowing exactly what to do.

Sakura had shaky breath but said, "When I tell you, take the gun from my hands and shoot it in the head."

Sakura let out a yell of agony as a claw moved from digging into her arm to digging into her chest. Blood started to drip out of her mouth, and SAsuke knew that was never a good sign.

"Now!" She coughed as she dropped the gun and used her hands to grab the cat's throat to keep it from lunging at her face.

Itachi quickly picked up the firearm and put it to the predator's skull and fired. The large feline went limp and fell on top of Sakura, who choked on the blood being forced out of her lungs. Sasuke helped Itachi roll the carcass off of Sakura then kneeled on the ground next to her. Itachi slung the gun over his shoulder and brought Shanondoah over.

"You have to take her back while I put the rest of the cattle in the corral."

Sasuke nodded at his brother then asked Sakura, "Can you stand up?"

"I'm fine!" She lied through her blood stained teeth, "It's not _that_ bad."

Itachi just scowled at her as he had to pick her up because she really _couldn't_ stand. Sasuke climbed up on Shanondoah, and Itachi carefully handed up Sakura to him. He could tell she was fading in and out because she was slumped up against his chest as he rode towards the house. It wasn't so much _him_ as it was the horse. He didn't even need to use her mane as a directional tool. The horse just _knew_ that they needed to get back to the house, and _fast_. Eventually, Sasuke saw the house in the distance. Sasuke rode into the barn first and Sai came out of the back room and held Sakura after Sasuke handed her down to him. Sasuke was amazed that she still had any blood left to bleed, but apparently she did, because there were red streaks all over Shanondoah's back and all over his new light blue shirt.

"Oh my god!" Sai gasped as he looked down at the face of his half-dead sister.

Sasuke jumped down off of Shanondoah then grunted, "Stable the horse, I'll take her inside."

Sai was reluctant, but handed her back over as Sasuke carried her bridal style, and carried her into the house. Shisui stopped what he was doing and immediately swiped all of the decor off the kitchen table, some of it breaking as it hit the hardwood floor, and ran up the stairs and back down with a thick blanket he draped over the table. Sasuke set her down on the table while removing the chairs. When he walked back over he watched her cough again, hacking up more blood from her lungs. Shisui scurried back down the stairs with the first aid kit and Itachi and Sai burst in through the back door.

"Take her shirt off" Itachi ordered as he filled a plastic bowl with hot water.

Shisui took out gauze and bandages as Sai dug through the kit for antibacterial ointment.

"Are you seriously going to treat her _here_?" Sasuke asked in disbelief.

"No" Itachi grunted, "But if we don't do something here, she won't make it to the hospital."

Sasuke's face turned beet red as they started to pull her tank top over her head.

Shisui noticed then barked, "If you can't be grown-up about this, then _leave_."

"No" he muttered, "I'll just turn around."

"That works too"

Itachi dipped a wash cloth in warm water and dabbed it on each of her wounds.

As the blood cleared up a little, Sai whispered, "They're so deep…"

Sasuke had to use every ounce of his self-control to keep from turning around and seeing just how bad it was. Sai's side-comments weren't making him feel particularly at ease as time ticked by. About twenty minutes later she was bandaged up and ready for transport. Seeing as she still had her muddy pajama shorts on, and her chest was now wrapped in bandages along with her other wounds, Sasuke could look at her without embarrassment.

"Wrap her in the blanket" Shisui said, "And have someone hold her on the way to the hospital so she can stay as warm as possible."

"You aren't coming with us?" Itachi asked confused

Shisui shook his head then answered, "Your truck isn't comfortable for more than two people. I'll take whoever doesn't go with you in the sedan behind you."

Itachi nodded then looked at Sasuke, "You're riding with me so I can keep an eye on you. Take Sakura out to the car. I'll just be a minute."

Sasuke huffed, but walked over to the table and burrito-wrapped the pinkette in the blanket and rook her out to the car. ITachi soon got in after him with a small duffle bag.

"How close is the nearest hospital?" Sasuke asked as they pulled out of the dirt driveway onto the road.

Itachi sighed as he replied, "Under normal circumstances I would say two hours, but I have to drive slow in this rain to avoid hitting a deer, so it'll be more like three hours."

Sasuke wanted to bang his head on the dashboard. Why would someone want to live _that_ far away from a hospital? Now Sasuke understood why they'd bandaged her up before she left.

"She's not even partially conscious anymore…" Sasuke whispered as he looked at her pale face, "And she's cold" he added as he ran his hand down her arm.

"Keep her warm" Itachi said with a scowl trying to focus on driving the car on the slick road.

Sasuke fixed how he was holding her and put her cold face in the crook of his neck and kept the blanket snug and over her feet. He also ran his hand up and down her back, hoping the friction would help warm her up.

They got to the hospital, and she was immediately taken back on a stretcher. Sasuke watched her be pushed through several double doors, and took a deep breath as he took a seat next to his brother in the lobby. He'd never seen Itachi in so much distress before, and he didn't know how to comfort him. However moments later a physician's assistant came out panicked.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but we don't have the right blood supply to give her for a successful infusion."

Sasuke scowled then asked, "What blood type is she?"

"Our files show she's O positive"

"I'm O negative"

"Then please, come with me."

Sasuke stood up then followed the practitioner down the hallway. He sat Sasuke in the same room as the pinkette, though a curtain separated them. He could see the shadows of the hospital staff shuffling to treat her wounds. HE guessed she was getting stitches.

"Ahem" the man coughed snapping Sasuke's eyes away from the curtain, "Under normal donation guidelines you would only donate one liter. However Ms. Haruno has sustained significant blood-loss and needs two liters to have a chance of survival. If you sign these release wavers accepting the possible health risks, then we can save her."

Sasuke took the clipboard from the man, pretending to read over it, but he kept having flashback to meeting Sakura as a child, and all the adventures she'd taken him on just the past month and a half.

"I'll do it" he said as he quickly signed his name and handed the clipboard back to the man.

They wasted no time in putting an IV into Sasuke's arm and beginning the process. Sasuke felt fine until the last half of the second liter. He knew that he was experiencing only a fraction of what Sakura had with her blood-loss. After he'd donated the blood he had a blanket put over him and was told to just stay still. Sasuke saw the first rays of morning coming in through the window, but gave in to his drained body's need for sleep.

* * *

Sakura awoke with Itachi, Sai, and Shisui at her bedside. She could tell it was early evening because the sun wasn't quite set, but the streetlights outside had already begun to turn on. She felt Itachi grab her hand as she blinked a few times to adjust her tired eyes.

"Do you remember what happened?" Shisui asked with concern laced in his voice.

Sakura nodded as she whispered somberly, "I'm sorry. I was only trying to help."

"I know" Itachi sighed, "But how many times have I told you not to wander around at night on your own?"

"Too many" Sakura coughed.

Another voice chimed in from the food of her bed, "I told you so."

Sakura sat up a little to see the youngest Uchiha glaring daggers into her. Sakura just returned the glare and crossed her arms. She didn't need his sass right now.

"Because of you I have a massive headache and major fatigue" he added.

"How so?" She asked skeptically, "I'm not that much work."

Sai put his hand on her arm and told her, "He gave two liters of blood to make sure you would be ok. The hospital didn't have any kinds they could use on you, but you're lucky that Sasuke is O negative, so he could save you."

"What?…" She asked in disbelief, turning her softened gaze back to Sasuke.

He just said "Hn" then turned his back to her so she wouldn't see him blush.

Itachi saw through his actions and chuckled. His brother might be shrouded in darkness because of his poor attitude, but if you pierced through that veil then you'd find a heart of gold. Sakura had spent the day in the hospital, but they wanted to keep her one more night to make sure she was stable.

"Someone's going to have to spend the night here with her" Shisui commented.

"Sai?" Itachi asked.

"Under normal circumstances I would've already volunteered and put my foot down." he huffed, "But I have to deliver my paintings to the art gala tomorrow, and stay so people can ask me questions. I have to get up at 7am and be there by 9am. I can't."

Itachi huffed then looked at his cousin Shisui, "You?"

"I still have to look after the house and keep fish-man in line. I'm sorry."

Itachi sighed yet again. It's not that he wouldn't be happy to stay, in fact he _wanted_ to, But he couldn't, because he was expecting an important call about an offer on the house. He had to sell it soon.

"Sasuke looked at his brother disbelievingly. _"So much for 'keeping an eye on me.' Hah."_ Sasuke grumbled in his head. It's not that he minded staying the night with Sakura, but he wanted his computer, tea, books, his shower, and queen sized bed.

"Fine" he said as he frustratedly ran a hand over his face.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Shisui asked scowling as he quickly looked from Sasuke to Sakura then back to Itachi.

"It's fine" Itachi answered with finality.

Eventually they all left to go home beside Sasuke. He got up and turned the room's lights off then sat back down in the chair with his legs and arms crossed.

Sakura just gave him a quizzical face then asked, "What are you doing?…"

"You need to sleep" came his emotionless reply.

"I can't" she hissed, "You're _staring_ at me! I can see your eyes locked on me, even though it's dark."

Sasuke stood up from his chair and slowly walked over to her hospital bed getting so close to her face that the tips of their noses were touching, "Is this more comfortable?"

"No" she seethed, but unable to push him off due to the absence of strength in her arms from all the torn muscles.

Sasuke then proceeded to plant a soft kiss on her forehead then whispered down by her ear, "Sleep."

Sakura put her hand on her forehead and blinked fast a few times then realized that she was grateful it was dark, so Sasuke couldn't see her blushing. Eventually she could close her eyes and push away the sensation of someone watching her. It wasn't easy, and took over an hour to accomplish, but she managed to eventually drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Are you sure it was a good idea leaving those two together alone?" Shisui asked skeptically.

Itachi was frustrated with Shisui's overprotectiveness of Sakura and answered, "He may be a bit of a womanizer, but he wouldn't try anything in the hospital in her current condition. The worst thing he'd do is kiss her, and he's already done that anyways."

"_WHAT!_" Shisui shrieked.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

Please review guys! I love hearing from you! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So I'm sorry first of all that I didn't publish his on Friday like I had initially planned and promised. A lot of stuff has come up this weekend, including social stuff with friends (and crushes). Speaking of crushes, I've been invited to hang with the boy I like if his family doesn't figure out what they're planning, something along those lines. I'm not staying in the house anyway. If those plans fall through I'll be going to the park and smoking a cigarillo (cigar the size of a cigarette). I hope you guys have been enjoying your summer. We're in the home stretch now! College orientation is this Friday, followed by my friend's birthday party that night, so I know for a fact the update won't be up by then unless I do it first thing in the morning or update it from the party (not likely to happen).

* * *

Sakura woke up that morning from the rising sun hitting her eyelids through her hospital window. She found Sasuke at her bedside with his face in his crossed arms by her hip. She was afraid to touch him, but she couldn't help noticing that he was a little pale. She snapped her head to the door when she heard it open. She lifted her pointer finger to her mouth in a hushing gesture as Itachi set the duffel bag he brought down on the floor. Pointing to her discharge papers then to the door, he silently signaled that he was going to sign her out. Sakura nodded and then quietly slipped from the bed into the bathroom.

"_Ah_!" she hollered in pain a few moments later.

Her sound of agony quickly woke Sasuke from where he was sleeping. He immediately noticed Sakura wasn't in the hospital bed and scrambled over to the bathroom door.

He knocked then asked, "Are you okay?"

The only answer he got was a muffled, "uuuunnnn"

Sasuke jiggled the knob of the door, only to discover she'd locked it. He quickly scanned the wall then pressed the nurses station button next to her bed.

"Yes?" A voice came over the room's intercom.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair not knowing which direction to speak, "The patient in this room needs help, but locked the door to the bathroom. I can't get to her."

"We'll be right there."

After the click ending the intercom call, Sasuke waited by the door until a nurse briskly walked in while thumbing through keys. She quickly unlocked the door then gestured for Sasuke to do what he needed, and she walked back out. The raven-haired boy swiftly went into the bathroom trying to hide the red on his face from a half naked Sakura. Her hospital gown was partially off and the only other garment she had on were panties. Sasuke blushed furiously as he helped her to sit on the ledge of the bathtub.

"If you needed help, all you had to do was ask" he grumbled as he shuffled through her duffel bag.

He pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and looked away over his shoulder while she put them on with his blind assistance. He then handed Sakura a bra which she put on (without him looking), and had him fasten it in the back since it was too hard to reach in her current condition. At that moment Itachi had walked back in the room and looked through the bathroom doorway scowling.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked in a dangerous tone.

Sasuke looked over at him, narrowing his eyes, then snapped, "What _you_ should've been doing."

Even Sakura shivered from the chilling tone of Sasuke's voice. After Sasuke helped her into a pair of jeans, he pulled out a red tank top. When he tried to get her to lift her arms up to put it on she hissed in pain. He tried a different method with the flexible fabric and started at her ankles and pulled it up her body instead.

Sasuke walked her out of the bathroom then looked at his brother and asked, "Can you help her put her shoes on while I get dressed?" while looking down at his sweats and t-shirt.

He'd come to the hospital the night before in his muddy sweats and hadn't changed into a clean pair of clothes since. As soon as the bathroom door was closed both Itachi and Sakura heard the shower start running and cocked an eyebrow.

"Does he really need to do that?" Sakura asked, looking down at Itachi who was tying her shoelaces.

"Who knows" he answered chuckling, "But considering he stayed here with you for thirty-six hours strait without leaving your side, with no showers, minimal potty breaks, or any clean clothes, I think we can cut him some slack, don't you?"

Sakura hadn't assumed that Sasuke had stayed by her side, since he seemed more like the careless, aloof type. However the fact that even Itachi seemed to give his effort some merit was enough to persuade Sakura otherwise. She remained silent for a while as Itachi was gathering some of her belongings from around the room. Eventually the said man turned around to face her with a cocky, knowing expression.

"I told you he'd changed" Itachi muttered while smirking.

Right after Itachi had said that, Sasuke came out of the bathroom in fresh clothes with a cloud of steam wafting behind him and the duffle bag on his shoulder. Sasuke walked over to Sakura not bothering to ask if she was ok to walk and simply picked her up with one arm. Her butt was resting on his forearm while his hand was on the outside of her furthest thigh. Scared he might drop her, Sakura grabbed his shoulder and he smirked at her for it.

"Are you sure you can carry me _and_ the duffle bag?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yee of little faith" he mocked her.

"Well you _did_ call me fat…"

Sasuke let a slight chuckle escape his throat as he remembered shoving her out of the truck and what he'd said to her while Itachi came up next to him and took the bag. Sasuke shifted Sakura off of his hip so she was straddling his waist with both of his arms now under her rear-end.

"This is a _really_ embarrassing way to carry someone…" she grumbled giving him the best pouting face she had, "Can't you just get a wheel chair for me like a normal person?"

"Nope."

The futile argument carried on for some time before they reached Itachi's car. Sakura didn't have enough toes and fingers combined to count the number of strange looks people had given her as Sasuke carried her out of the hospital in the fashion he'd chosen, against her will.

"Easy…" Itachi grumbled while Sasuke put Sakura in the back seat of Shisui's sedan, almost hitting her head on the roof of the car.

Itachi had to take the sedan instead of the truck since he was picking up the two of them and Sasuke wasn't about to volunteer for another car ride with her in his lap. He'd done it far too many times already. By the time they'd driven home in silence the pinkette had fallen asleep. Shisui watched with one eyebrow raised as Sasuke carried Sakura into the house from the car and up to her bedroom. He gently set her down on her bed and closed the door behind him. After hearing the click of her bedroom door, Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see his older brother with a rather softened look on his face expressing concern.

"You should get some rest too" he told Sasuke, "You're missing two liters of blood and you look like hell."

Sasuke didn't even bother to ask his brother if he had the day off from working and chores. He just walked into his room and plopped down on the bed face first. The hospital beds didn't seem all too comfortable, but the chair he'd slept in was even worse. He got out of his bed to put on his pajama pants instead of jeans and crawled back into the bed and crashed.

* * *

"He takes such good care of her" Shisui cooed from the kitchen while Itachi sat at the table.

"A little _too_ good if you ask me" Itachi scoffed, "When I came back into the hospital room he was helping her dress, from her underwear."

Shisui dropped a pan he was washing in the sink with a clunk then hissed, "_What_?!"

"I assumed he was doing something else, but he really was just helping her. Her wounds are so bad she has trouble doing anything, especially dressing or anything that requires her lifting her arms above her shoulders."

"How red was his face?" Shisui asked with a devilish smirk.

"Red as a tomato."

"You know…" Shisui decided to change the topic, "I got a call today."

"From?"

"The realtor."

Itachi immediately sat up strait, "And?"

"There's been an offer."

Itachi ran a frustrated hand through his hair. It was still much too early to move. He was hoping to close at the end of fall then have Sasuke and the others enrolled back in school after New Years for the new school year.

"How long are they willing to wait?" he asked trying to recalculate all his plans in his head.

Shisui sat across from him, shuffling a deck of playing cards saying, "The end of October."

Itachi sighed with slight relief. It was only one month earlier than he had originally anticipated. The only hard part would be transporting Sakura in her current condition, not to mention even telling her in the first place.

* * *

Sakura awoke in her own bed, wondering when it was she fell asleep. However the ever-clouding skies were making her somewhat nervous. She crept quietly down the stairs to see Itachi and Shisui playing poker at the kitchen table, gambling with coffee beans. She rolled her eyes at their absurdities then slipped out the back door quietly and went out to the barn.

Sasuke woke and saw the rain pelting his window. He slid out from under the covers and put on his house slippers before coming downstairs. He sat on the couch watching TV while drinking tea. Only minutes later, a resounding crash of thunder shook the house. Sai came tumbling down the stairs frantically.

"Where's Sakura?" he asked with an edge of panic in his voice, "We have to find her."

Sasuke quirked a brow at Sai and put his tea down on the coffee table and headed towards the stairs, only to be stopped by Sai's next statement, "I already checked all the rooms upstairs. She's gone."

"She couldn't have gone far" Sasuke said nonchalantly while stretching.

Sai scoffed as he cold-shouldered Sasuke who was being ignorant and walked down to the basement studio to see if he could find her down there. Sasuke just scowled over his shoulder while Itachi and Shisui were exchanging concerned glances. It was only then that Sasuke wondered just what had everyone's panties in a wad over Sakura. Sure she wasn't in the best of conditions, but honestly, how far could she limp away?

"Did she figure it out?" Shisui asked somewhat disgruntled.

Sasuke walked over to the table adding, "Well I didn't tell her."

"But you told _him_?" Itachi asked coldly, pointing over his shoulder at Sasuke.

Shisui sheepishly grinned before answering, "Well he does have a right to know."

"I beg to differ" Itachi grumbled as he stood up, "Sai's right though, we need to find Sakura before she gets too shell shocked from this weather."

Sasuke slapped a hand over his face as he headed out to the barn. Shenanigans were one thing, but now she was just being plain stupid. Sasuke could see the mini-puddles leading away from the barn that were actually horse tracks that were filling up with water and slowly being washed away.

"God fucking _damnit_" he hissed as he slammed the door of the barn open, agitated that _nothing_ was going right.

He wasn't in a mood to put up with _any_ bullshit, so he took Magnolia out of the stall instead of Nightingale. She was the easiest horse to work with. Just as Sasuke suspected, Shenandoah's stall was empty. The horse had vanished just like its rider. Sasuke rode out to the only place he knew she might be, the lake. After an hour-long ride out to the lake he saw no trace of her until there was another loud crack of thunder. He heard a small scream followed by a whimper. When he walked into the woods he saw Shenandoah, and next to her was Sakura. Sasuke came up to her with his arms crossed.

"Are you trying to land yourself back in the hospital?" he bitterly asked her, but stopped before he said anything else.

He took a closer look at her to discover that she wasn't just shaking, she was _vibrating_. Her face was hidden in her knees that she had tucked towards her chest. There was no doubt in Sasuke's mind that she was exceedingly distressed. He looked over to her horse that only shook its head and snorted at him, not the most heart warming gesture.

"I… wasn't… then… walked…." she fragmentally whimpered into her knees without looking at Sasuke.

"You can't stay out here in this rain" he grumbled as he scooped the girl up bridal style in his arms, "Where's the nearest building?"

Sakura pointed to a roof peaking above the trees just by the lake hidden by a half mile of foliage. Sasuke carried her while he whistled at the two horses to follow him. When they came through the final barricade of trees, Sasuke finally saw what the concrete building really was. It was an old, abandoned slaughterhouse. He debated on just walking several miles back to the house, but decided against it as soon as the winds started to significantly pick up. The horses hesitantly walked into the building behind him. He set the shaking pinkette down on the ground before looking around the abandoned building for dry wood. He saw some rickety stalls that looked like dry wood, so he harshly tore them off the hinges and made a pile. It wasn't too hard to find tinder, seeing as there was dried up plant matter everywhere from where plants had grown through cracks in the cement and died. Sasuke pulled the zippo lighter he had out of his pocket and made a reasonably sized bonfire in the middle of the half dilapidated structure. He then took off his shirt and pants and put the sopping wet clothing a few feet from the fire to dry. He walked back over to Sakura and made her walk over to the fire after helping her up.

"You too" he said tugging on her tank top he'd dressed her in that morning.

Sakura then took a moment to notice that Sasuke was down to his boxers. She let a tint of pink grace her cheeks as she looked down at her wet clothes then back up at a wet, mostly naked Sasuke. The raven-haired boy huffed. Sakura obviously wasn't going to be very talkative and was practically non-responsive, so he reached to help take her tank top off but as soon as he reached out she slapped his hand away.

"Pervert!" she yelled as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.

She was being over emotional because she had a phobia of thunder, and considering the current storm they were trapped in, she was scared and almost didn't realize what it was she was doing. However Sasuke just crossed his arms at her stubborn behavior. He was only trying to help her, but it seemed she didn't understand that with her current condition of shock and resorting to primal instincts of survival. He knew she didn't understand that her wet clothes were actually hurting her.

"Sakura please…" he gently coaxed her as he took another step towards her while she was backing away, "Your clothes are wet, and it's cold at night out here. You're badly hurt. Do you want pneumonia too? Your lungs are badly damaged, so I think the last thing you want to be doing is coughing."

Sakura guiltily looked to the side. She was calming down a little since she hadn't heard a boom from the storm outside in several minutes. She was about to comply to what Sasuke was embarrassingly asking her to do but she collapsed. Luckily, Sasuke caught her before she could hurt herself from hitting the concrete floor.

"Sakura?" he asked worriedly, "How long were you out here in the rain?"

Sakura couldn't even answer his question. She just had small guttural noises coming out of her mouth at this point. Sasuke couldn't take it any longer and decided to take matters into his own hands. He went rummaging around Magnolia's saddlebag that was luckily in a leather, waterproof satchel on the side, and pulled out a polar fleece blanket that was nice and dry. Sasuke set the blanket down and took Sakura's sopping wet clothes off so she was down to just her skin. Sasuke had a hard time even looking at the nude pinkette, but he told himself he had to do it. Not for perverted reasons, but the fact that she was burning up so badly with a fever that she was delirious. It was obvious that his ominous words of becoming sick were suddenly becoming a reality. He was glad that she wasn't coughing, yet. Right when he was about to put the blanket around them and wait out the storm Sasuke heard a strange buzzing. The phone that was in his pajama pants was going off. He took it out, surprised it still worked, and answered it.

"Hello?"

Itachi's voice was on the other line, "Where the _hell_ are you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and explained the situation to his brother. He conveniently left out the part that both of them were practically naked and about to be under the same blanket, but he figured 'staying warm' would suffice as an explanation. He growled in agitation as Itachi told him the storm wasn't going to let up until morning. He didn't know what he was getting himself into riding all the way out here. All he ever got for saving Sakura was a life full of shit. She kept things interesting, but he was getting a little tired of running around. Itachi told him that they all were going to go to bed and sleep the rest of the storm away, and that Sasuke needed to ride back with Sakura first thing in the morning. He wasn't one for 'yes sirs' so he just gave his brother his signature "Hn." and hung up. He made his way back over to his completely nude companion and put his back up against the concrete wall behind him in the blanket and pulled the pinkette into his lap and wrapped the blanket around her as well while watching the fire. Sasuke knew that Sakura was not going to be a happy camper when she woke up, but this was the only way to keep her condition from getting any worse. Unable to sleep for a while Sasuke made sure the two horses were inside; from the looks of their body language they didn't look like they planned on leaving the safety of the cement building. After a while longer, Sasuke felt his eyelids getting heavier and he drifted off to sleep with her skin on his like silk sheets. He almost liked the way it felt, though he quickly tried to push those thoughts out of his mind before he drifted off to sleep with her in his arms.

* * *

"What?" Sai asked confused and agitated.

"Sasuke found her by the lake and they're in the abandoned slaughter house waiting out the storm. Calm down."

He ran to grab his boots and ride out there himself but Itachi grabbed his arm harshly before seething, "It's gotten ten times worse out there since Sasuke rode out. There's a reason he can't ride back until the morning. There's no way you're going out there either. You'll only cause more trouble than you'll solve. Stay inside. I mean it."

Sai huffed at Itachi's authoritative voice. His words were final.

"It's fine" Shisui put a hand on Sai's shoulder, "After all the attention and care he's given her thus far while he watched her at the hospital, I doubt he'd let anything happen to her."

The infuriated introvert just stomped up the stairs to his room unable to rest peacefully with his sister stranded out in the storm. He knew there was nothing anyone could really do, but that didn't stop him from wanting to at least _try_.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

Please read and review! ^(^0^)^


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So basically this weeks has been the week from hell. I had my heart ripped out and stomped on after finally opening myself to the possibility of a relationship. He confused me so much because he would stroke my hair as I cried myself stupid on him. I'd fall asleep in his arms, in his bed, with him whispering sweet things of how everything was going to be ok. Then he asked me how I felt and since he brought it up and not me I confidently told him that I liked him, and he said he only liked me as a friend. I even told him "I flirt and then act uninterested, because I don't want to get hurt again." A little late for that. And in the whole process my 32 year old sister I see once every blue moon was out here to witness the whole melt down. I cried for four hours yesterday and went through a whole box of Kleenex when he finally told me he didn't like me that way. I can seriously say that I'm tempted to go back on my Prozac again after this. I legitimately can't handle people touching me anymore. I can't be hugged without cringing and it sucks, because there are good people who hug me for good reasons, but I've been confused enough already. Not to mention my friend illegally downloaded Iron Man 3 on my wi-fi without telling me. Comcast said the people who owned the copyrights to the movie pegged us and are filing against us (which means they're going to sue or fine us a shit load of money). And when I confronted her and told her how wrong that was, how hurt and scared I was of what was going to happen to me and my family, how disrespectful it was to my family, and how inappropriate her behavior was. You know what she does? Completely ignores me and treats me like shit. She was my best friend for six years. SIX YEARS. And now because she's my common link to the rest of my friends, I have no one. I legitimately have no one anymore. Blake (the confusing guy) is all awkward now that I know where we stand and how pathetic I am, and Desiree's taken the rest of my social network away. I literally just been sitting in the dark of my room with lit candles and the blinds closed for days. The closest thing I have to friends are my co-workers at my clinic. This one patient when I was checking her in asked me rudely about the skin on my neck (I have psoriasis), and then Jason (the MA who takes patients back into the rooms and gets vitals and stuff) told me not to take anything they say personally because they're always rude. He always tries to cheer me up. He's like the mama hen of the office lol. It's a shame he's like 34 and in a committed relationship. If he were ten years younger and single, I'd be on that. At least the people I work with everyday are great right? We spend our lunch breaks talking about pregnancy (because half of them are preggers) or that stupid show "Naked and Afraid."

* * *

I've probably added another 1,000 words on with this but I figured my shitty week might make some of you feel better about whatever it is you're going through. Stay strong, because you aren't alone :3 I have bad times too!

A

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked hesitantly shaking the sleeping girl.

He had been woken up in the middle of the night by Sakura's coughing, unable to go back to sleep because the fire was out and it was relatively cold. He knew it was high time they got home. The fog was disgustingly murky, but Sasuke just held Sakura against his chest while she was still wrapped in nothing but the blanket. He had planned on putting her back in her clothes, but when the fire had gone out, the fog crept in and their cloths got damp again. Even Sasuke was still just in his boxers while the morning dew clung to his bare skin. As he rode through the woods he was cautious. Since it was dawn, there was a good chance mountain lions were roaming around. It wasn't a comforting thought as he rode on Magnolia with Shenandoah following behind. Eventually he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Kisame and Itachi out on the back porch. Itachi immediately came over to them at a brisk pace and almost _tore_ Sakura away from the other Uchiha.

"_Careful_!" he hissed, "She's only wearing that blanket right now, not to mention sick and injured."

"Sick?" Itachi repeated, choosing not to focus on the fact that she was practically nude.

Sasuke wiped a hand over his face as he frustratedly grunted, "Just take her inside and clean her up. I'll explain everything when I get inside."

Itachi huffed as he carried a limp Sakura back into the house. Sasuke slid off of Magnolia and led the two horses into the barn. He wasn't expecting fish-face to keep him company while he put the horses and riding gear away.

"If I didn't know any better," Kisame devilishly mocked while leaning up against the doorway of a stall, "I'd say you _love_ that girl."

"That's not a word you should throw around" Sasuke seethed in annoyance, pushing past the blue-skinned man to hang the bridles up.

"And it's not everyday you see an _Uchiha_ go out of their way for someone on a regular basis" he shot back.

Sasuke gave up trying to blow this man off, because it was obvious that he had no intentions of going anywhere else at the moment. He just sat on a near by stool and crossed his arms.

"Define _on a regular basis_" Sasuke huffed while scowling at the rather nosy and unwanted company.

Kisame showed a toothy grin before he finally answered, "A few nights ago you went after her in the rain and saved her from a mountain lion. After that you gave her a dangerous amount of your own blood, then stayed in the hospital with her for a day and a half. As soon as she gets out she carelessly goes on a joy ride, only to have you save her yet again. See a pattern yet?"

Sasuke looked away scowling. So what if he found himself mildly attracted to the pinkette? It's only natural that he'd go chasing after her when she endangered herself. It was only because he cared. Wait. Sasuke actually cared about something? It even shocked him a little as he admitted it to himself.

"I care" he voiced his thoughts out loud as he stood up and headed for the barn door, "But I _don't_ 'love' her."

Kisame waited for the barn door to slide closed before he muttered under his breath, "Keep telling yourself that."

Sasuke stormed into the house in a none-too-happy mood. He never like being confronted with his feelings, especially when other people were more right about it than he was. The sight he faced made his heart sink a little lower. Sakura was under the covers of her bed. She was panting for breath with a constant shade of pink shadowing her face, signaling a high fever. Only a few moments later, Itachi walked out of her bathroom with a cold washcloth he placed on her forehead. Itachi quickly took notice of the raven-haired boy standing in the doorway.

"I'm not going to ask you to take care of her again" Itachi sighed, "She's run you ragged the past three days. I've gotten more than I ever expected from you in terms of help."

Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond so he let a simple "hn" suffice.

What Sasuke wasn't expecting was Itachi to gently grab his arm and drag him into his room. Itachi took a seat in Sasuke's desk chair after gesturing his little brother to sit on the foot of the bed.

"Tell me exactly what happened" Itachi demanded as his eyes took on a more serious look.

Sasuke was reluctant, but took a deep breath before relaying the story to his brother, "I rode to the lake and found her drenched to the bone. As the storm got worse we took shelter in that old abandoned building. I took off my own wet clothes and hers to keep from getting sick. There was a blanket in the saddlebag. I lit a fire and you called me on my cell. Then I woke up in the middle of the night from her coughing, and then headed out as soon as I saw the sun rise."

"Why were your clothes all still off?"

Sasuke looked down at his boxers then back up at his brother, "The humidity and fog kept them from getting dry, so I kept her dry in the blanket. I swear, nothing happened."

Itachi ran a hand through his hair in utter frustration. He wasn't sure what to believe. At the hospital, it was astounding to see the care he'd given her. However, out there in the wilderness with no one watching, Itachi wasn't sure how strong Sasuke's integrity was.

"It's disappointing to have everyone expecting the worst from me in these situations, when I was the one forced out here against my will in the first place" he scoffed as he got up to go take a shower.

"Sasuke, wait" Itachi sighed.

"Save your breath."

The bathroom door closed with an eerily soft click. It was the opposite of what Itachi had expected. After all that had happened, Itachi _desperately_ wanted to believe his brother had done the right thing for the right reasons, but the situation was just too conspicuous with too much stacked against him with no one but him and her there.

* * *

Sai sat in a chair by the bed making sure his sister's washcloth stayed cold. He was perfectly happy sitting in silence until a very unwelcome figure made an appearance in the doorway with a glass of water from downstairs intended for Sakura.

"Do you mind if I have a minute alone?" he asked as he entered the room.

Sai stood up from the wooden chair with his eyes narrowed and attempted to storm out of the room after giving Sasuke a cold shoulder, but as soon as their shoulders made contact, Sasuke flung Sai into the bedroom wall as he clenched the boy's shirt with both fists, dropping the glass of water to the floor. The glass shattered and Shisui heard the crash and thud from upstairs and heard yelling as he made his way up there from the living room.

"What the _hell_ is your problem?" Sai hissed grabbing Sasuke's shirt as well.

"What the fuck is _yours_!" Sasuke shouted back.

"Boys!" Shisui yelled over both of them, "If you're going to make a mess of each other, do it _outside_!"

He gestured his head towards Sakura causing both boys to see how much they'd disgruntled the pinkette who was now tossing and turning. She still wasn't incoherent, but she wasn't resting peacefully anymore.

"I swear to God" Itachi hissed coming up the stairs a few minutes later after hearing all the racket.

As he walked into Sakura's room he saw Shisui cleaning up the broken glass on the floor and asked, "What happened in here?"

"Those boys" Shisui grumbled, "They're about to take a chunk out of each other out back."

Itachi briskly walked over to the window and saw the two boys pelting each other. He quickly shuffled downstairs to break up the skirmish before they made yet _another_ trip to the hospital that week.

* * *

Sai had followed Sasuke out back between the house and the barn and wasted no time throwing the first punch as soon as Sasuke turned around. He stumbled onto the ground as Sai straddled his hips on top of him, trying to swing more punches. Sasuke grabbed the boy's wrists to keep him from hitting him.

"You _defiled_ her!" Sai shouted, "I don't care what you say! I know what you did! _Your_ kind is the most despicable type there is."

Sasuke scowled at Sai's assumptions and stereotyping. He quickly flipped their positions and was on top of Sai instead. When Sai didn't stop struggling, he slugged him strait across the jaw then pinned his wrists above his head, leaning an inch from his face.

"Now _you_ listen" Sasuke growled angrily, "I don't care what _you_ say. _You_ weren't there, and _you_ don't know what happened. If you want to know so badly, instead of wasting your energy on me, how about you nurse your sister back to health so _she_ can tell you. I'll be waiting for your apology in the meantime."

Sai pushed Sasuke off him and wiped his mouth to get the blood from his split lip off his face. Sai once again wasted no time in tackling Sasuke back down to the ground. Fed-up at Sai's aggression, Sasuke finally snapped. He put his knees into Sai's ribs and flipped him over his head then drug him up quickly by his shirt onto his feet and slammed him into a wooden post holding up the clothesline for the laundry. He spun around and dropkicked Sai to the ground and picked him back up again to punch him under the chin and sent him flying backwards. Sai was on the ground squirming, unable to get back on his feet.

"Stand up!" Sasuke shouted as he kicked Sai's side, "I thought you wanted to fight! Are you done already?!"

Sasuke was merciless once he snapped. Not only had Sai thrown the first punch, but when Sasuke had tried to walk away, he continued it. He'd be damned before he got pummeled for trying to be the better person. Sasuke watched as Sai got on his hands and knees in an attempt to stand. Not having any of it, Sasuke kicked him over so he was squirming on his back while Sasuke's foot comfortably rested on Sai's throat. As he applied small amounts of pressure he could feel Sai squirming for air.

"Anything you'd like to say?" he mocked, "Like 'uncle'? or maybe 'I give up'?"

"Itachi…" Sai gasped out with an outstretched hand towards the house.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder scowling as Itachi shoved him off of Sai and broke apart their smack down. He helped Sai into the house and Sasuke followed behind but sat on the back porch knowing he wasn't welcome inside yet. He was able to calm down by the time Shisui walked out with an ice pack and a cup of water. He calmly sat next to Sasuke and let out a contemplative sigh.

"Is that what the city does to you?" he asked somberly, "Makes you senselessly violent?"

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair before answering, "You know I have a complicated past. I tried to walk away from him, I did, but he kept tackling me. It got to the point where it was either going to be me, or him."

"Considering the number you did on him, I guess Itachi wasn't lying when he said you'd gotten involved in gangs and back alley activities."

"I don't want to talk about it" he grunted as he stood and went inside and closed himself up in his room.

He hated his past. The drugs he's taken, the things he'd done, the women he'd been involved with, the crimes he'd committed, and worst of all, the people he'd hurt along the way. There was no way he was about to pour all of that out on the back porch to his cousin. The door was closed and the lights were out, but he couldn't fall asleep. A few hours later he heard voices next door and got up to investigate. Sasuke was surprised to see their family doctor, Tsunade, standing there by Sakura's bedside.

"They flew you out here?" Sasuke asked leaning up against the doorway.

"Well if it isn't the prodigal prick himself come to grace me with his presence" Tsunade mocked.

Sasuke walked into the room with a simple "hn" as he watched Sakura's sleeping form under the covers.

Tsunade was the only person who had the gall to speak to Sasuke the way that she did. She spoke to everyone she didn't like in that manner, but mostly just the youngest Uchiha, seeing as most other people had the decency to address her in a more respectful manner. She could also back up her back talk and beat his ass into the ground and he knew it, so he didn't put up too much sass back.

"Give her these sedatives and have her on the next flight out of here" she grunted as she put a canister of pills in Itachi's hands and walked back out of the room.

"_What_?" Sasuke growled, "You weren't even going to tell me until she was gone?"

"Sasuke…" Itachi sighed helplessly, "Consider her current condition, it's what's best. You'll see her again when we all go back out there. And this way, you and Sai won't have anything to fight over-"

"Is _that_ what this is about?" Sasuke ground out while he clenched his fists as he interrupted Itachi.

Itachi pinched the skin on his nose in between his eyes. "I don't have to explain myself to you. This is my final decision. Deal with it."

Sasuke didn't bother asking any more questions as his brother walked out of the room. It was obvious she'd be staying at the main house while the rest of them caught up to her. He felt bad for her. She wouldn't even know that she would never come back to this place until after it was gone. He quietly closed the door and was finally able to get some rest.

* * *

"Holy shit..." Sakura mumbled as she looked at Sasuke's face while getting herself an evening snack.

"This is nothing" Sasuke grunted, "You should see the other guy."

Sakura gave him a weird expression but shook her head when she saw her battered brother come down the stairs. Itachi was right behind him. Sakura took her food back up the stairs, and Sai went down to the basement studio leaving Sasuke and Itachi alone in the kitchen

"Why are you so sulky?" Sasuke asked with his arms crossed as he watched Itachi put a teakettle on the stove.

The older Uchiha let out a huff as he leaned against the counter, "I'm selling Shenandoah."

Sasuke's eyes went wide as he seethed, "How _could_ you? Sakura caught that horse herself! You can't just _sell_ it!"

"The way she randomly takes off on that horse with reckless abandonment, she's lucky she isn't dead yet."

"I thought you were going to put her in the family stables."

"You and I both know Sakura can't handle a wild horse in the city."

"She isn't wild."

"We can't even get a saddle on her and she only likes Sai and Sakura. You can't put such a free-spirited horse in the city."

"Then why are you putting such a free-spirited girl in the city?"

Itachi didn't have a come back for that one. He knew that it was possibly a bad decision to move Sakura to the city, but he didn't have much of a choice since his mother wanted him to move back. Sasuke was already heading back up the stairs to sulk in his room and Sakura was booked to fly out to Japan tomorrow afternoon. Itachi had no clue how, but he had to tell Sakura Shenandoah wouldn't be coming with them.

* * *

Sasuke was happily asleep in his bed when he heard a sob from next door and a few seconds later light flooded into his room. He sat up and saw the sniffling pinkette standing in the doorway.

"Say it isn't true…" She sobbed, "They can't take her! They can't take me away from here either! I don't wanna leave!"

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and watched her plod over to his bed and crawl onto it next to him, softly crying onto his arm. Itachi appeared in the doorway giving Sasuke a stern facial expression, which was returned with a scowl from the younger. Sasuke didn't bother saying anything because he was half asleep and didn't feel like it. He just let her wrap her arms around his torso and cry onto his chest until she wore herself out and went to sleep. Sasuke wasn't able to go to sleep just yet, so he watched the way Sakura's breath made the hair in her face twitch ever so slightly. He swiped the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear and wound up swiping up a few tears in the process that were left on her cheeks.

* * *

When Sasuke woke the next morning Sakura still had her face on his chest. He was surprised since she was naturally an early riser. However anyone who was as badly injured as she was might be just as tired. Sasuke carefully untangled himself from her and crept into the bathroom to take a shower. He was lost in the steam when he heard the thud of his bedroom door and immediately turned the water off. When he walked back into his room wrapped in a towel he saw that Sakura was gone and immediately cursed to himself. He caught a glimpse of her heading out to the barn from his window as he threw on the closest pair of clothes he had.

"_Damnit_!" he hissed to himself as he quickly shuffled down the stairs hoping not to run into Itachi.

He made it to the barn just in time to see Sakura pulling Shenandoah out of the stall with a backpack on her back. Sasuke quietly approached her and leaned up against a wooden pillar.

"You think running away solves anything?" he asked sarcastically as Sakura slowly rode towards him.

"I can sure as hell try" she sneered as she looked down to him from her horse's back, "It's better than doing nothing and being taken away."

Sasuke grunted as he reached up and grabbed Sakura's arm, "You aren't thinking strait. Please, just think it over."

"I'll think about it while I ride" she growled as she rode furiously out of the barn.

Sasuke clenched his teeth as he watched her ride away. He knew that she was in no condition to go out riding, but at this point there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Sakura rode fast and furiously out through the woods and into the pastures. She didn't want to go home and she didn't want to turn back. She took Sasuke's last words into consideration, but if that was the last time she talked to him then that was just fine with her. She wasn't about to willingly go back, only to be ripped away from the only life she's ever known. Even when her horse was at a gallop and her sides and chest screamed in agony from the rugged sensations of horseback riding, she wouldn't stop. She was determined to get as far away as she could as fast as humanly possible. She was sure that it was only a matter of time before Sasuke ratted her out to someone. There was only a certain amount of time she had to make her choice.

* * *

"Where's Sakura?" Shisui asked puzzled as he came down the stairs with a basket of laundry under his arm.

"Sulking" came Sasuke's simple answer.

"Where?"

Sasuke just shrugged. Hell if he knew. It was already lunchtime and he wasn't planning on ratting her out unless she wasn't back for dinner. He still didn't want to believe that she could go very far with the wounds she had. It was amazing to him that she could even walk around without wincing.

"You know…" Shisui mumbled as he made his way to the back door, "You'll regret it if there's something you're not telling us."

Sasuke inwardly gulped, but kept his stoic facade. He was going to wait until dinner and that was his final decision. They could all hate him for it if they wanted to, but he knew the importance of having space when you're upset. He assumed that after a daylong ride she might come to her senses.

* * *

Sakura was wandering through the grasslands headed back towards the house, or what she was hoping was the direction of the house. She only had the stars to guide her, but that was enough before. She was in tears as she trekked on foot, but she knew in her heart she'd done the right thing.

_"Go on girl…" Sakura sobbed quietly after she got off Shenandoah._

_The herd was all gathered around like it was another one of Sakura's regular visits, but she was being gently nuzzled and sniffed by all the other horses around her because of her emotional break down. She didn't want it to come to this, but she couldn't stand seeing her horse sold to someone else. Not only because it was just her horse and no one else's, but no one would have the patience to completely saddle break her. The only outcome it could lead to is being abused as a wild rodeo horse or the glue factory. Sakura gently removed the bridle from her horse's head. The pink leather one she'd used ever since she'd found her on her twelfth birthday. Sakura clutched the leather like it was her lifeline as a new stream of tears poured out of her eyes._

_"I know it hurts, but I promise it's for the best. I want you to be free. Even I was being selfish keeping you in my barn, but I can't keep you anymore. It's not because I don't want to, but I_ can't._ Itachi's going to sell you if you stay…"_

_When the horse didn't move from Sakura's side she became slightly distressed and shouted "__**GO!**__" while slapping the horse's flank harder than she usually would._

_The horse let out a neigh and galloped off with the other's grazing in the pasture. Sakura stood there for another half hour watching her horse lift it's head and nod at her asking if it was time to go back home, but Sakura knew it was home to neither of them now. She turned around and started to walk on foot back to the house and quickly heard hooves behind her and abruptly came nose to nose with none other than Shenandoah._

_"It's not home anymore…" Sakura softly whispered with her blubbering lip, "Go back to your family. I have to go back to mine too, sadly."_

_It was obvious the horse didn't understand her, so Sakura started trying to push against the horse to turn her around, but the horse interpreted it as some kind of game and ran in circles around her._

_"No" came Sakura's firm voice, "Stay HERE!"_

_The horse let out a small neigh as it came trotting up to her but she just shouted at the top of her lungs "GO AWAY!"_

_The horse shied away from her before slowly turning around and returning to the other horses in the grassland area. Sakura couldn't hold back her sobs any longer and felt as if she was watering the entire grasslands with her salty tears._

After walking several miles on foot, she soon saw the familiar red barn and the sun setting in the distance. She was glad that Sasuke hadn't told anyone yet of her vanishing act.

* * *

Sasuke was sitting on the back porch with a hard gaze on the trees behind the house. It was after dinner, but it was still light out so he decided to give her a little while longer. Itachi had asked where she'd disappeared to, and Sasuke had to tell him that Sakura just needed some alone time with her horse. They all seemed to understand, but Sasuke wasn't sure why it should take her so long to go on a ride. She always came back for a meal, or would wait until after dinner to leave. Right when he was about to go inside and tell Shisui to rally a search party he saw a tuft of pink coming out of the trees and slowly walking towards the house. In a sudden burst of speed, Sasuke bolted through the screen door of the porch and walked out to meet her.

"Where's… the horse?…" Sasuke asked quietly and hesitated as he saw the pinkette's bangs covering her obviously swollen red eyes and the bridle shoe was clutching at her side.

"I can't stand to sell her. _This_ is her home. And _here_ is where she'll stay."

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

Please Read and Review! ^(^0^)^


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

So I'm really sorry for the two week collapse. I've had these done but I'm starting to realize that I'm have less and less chapter in the bank to throw out at you guys. I'm really rushing to get it done, I really am. I've just had a lot of stress with my mom demanding I give her $1,000 for my college tuition, the bank lost part of my paycheck so $600 is floating around somewhere, I might get chemical injections for my psoriasis that could give me cancer due to my brain tumor history, not to mention the guy I like who turned me down is all over me like a fat kid on a cupcake kissing my neck and my rubbing my bare back and stuff. Claiming "it's nice to casually curl up and cuddle with someone" to make it sound like it's platonic. I have no idea how to confront him, but I'm hurt cause I feel like I'm being used. I'll try to regularly update though, just cut me a little slack.

* * *

Sasuke couldn't say he blamed her and he wasn't about to ask her what happened, but it was easy for him to make his own assumptions. He just turned around and offered her his back to climb onto. She just shook her head at him as she clutched the bridle to her horse even tighter.

"I walked over 15 miles back here, a hundred more feet won't make a difference" she said apathetically with a huff as she made her way towards the barn.

Sasuke just watched her walk into the barn then made his own way back into the house. After he walked back in he saw Itachi, Kisame, and Shisui all sitting at the table playing cards while Sai was watching the TV. He tried to make his way up the stairs, but finally was questioned by his brother.

"Did you find Sakura?" he asked with a quirked brow as he threw some fake poker chips into the middle of the table with a side glance towards him.

Sasuke just looked over his shoulder as he was half-way up the stairs and grunted "Yeah, she's in the barn."

Sai turned the TV off and made a motion to go out the backdoor, but surprisingly Shisui was the one to stop him.

"Leave her be" he said with an icy tone of authority, "She needs time to herself right now."

Sasuke was surprised at how knowledgeable they all were. But shrugged it off and went up the stairs to his own room and quickly made his way under the covers. He found it odd that there hadn't been a lot of work to do lately, but he attributed it to the fact that not only had Itachi sold the livestock after they'd gotten out, but he also had sold all the quarter horses. The only things left were the chickens and a few dairy goats. However that farm work wasn't what Sasuke really participated in. Since he painted the chicken coop he hadn't been asked to do much, and surprisingly he found himself being grateful that he wasn't being asked to do a whole lot.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Sasuke woke up to see his clock glow "2:14AM." He wasn't sure why but he was disgruntled enough to walk into Sakura's room. It was pitch black dark, so he expected to feel something under the covers when he stuck his hand out, but the sheets were still perfectly flat with no occupant.

_"Did she not come back in?…"_ he thought to himself as he looked out her bedroom window into the back yard.

Sasuke quietly crept down the stairs and was reaching for the doorknob when a voice stopped him, "Going to go get her?" Itachi asked with humor in his voice.

Sasuke froze and looked over his shoulder with a groggy brow raised as he asked, "You've been up this whole time?…"

"You didn't think I could go to sleep when all of my children aren't in the house, did you?"

Sasuke just shook his head but none the less went out in the night darker than pitch-black across the yard and groped his way around the barn doors until his hand found the handle. When he slid the door open, low and behold, it appeared empty. No horse heads to greet him as he walked by, no animals creeping about. There was just ghostly, dripping hay from the loft that probably would never be used anymore. It was awkward to see all the love and care that had gone into the building that would soon be neglected. The reason Itachi had sold all the animals was because the people interested in buying the house expressed no interest in ranching, they just wanted a city escape. Sasuke slowly and quietly made his way down all the horse stalls until he came to Shanondoah's, which is where he had expected Sakura to be. However he was surprised that when he peaked inside he saw nothing and no one in the stall. But a small crack in the back door made him slide the equipment room door open, and he saw Sakura sitting on the bench polishing her pink horse bridle into oblivion. Sasuke put his hand over the zoned out girl's as she slowly turned her gaze up to him. Sasuke saw the void in her red, irritated, and puffy eyes and almost felt his stomach wrench. He slowly took the horse bridle away from her and picked her up and carried her back into the house. Itachi had already gone upstairs and Sasuke assumed he would be falling asleep now that he knew that Sasuke and Sakura were inside the house again.

Sasuke was carrying Sakura up the stairs when she whimpered, "Can I please sleep in your room tonight?…"

"Hn."

Sasuke huffed. He figured that it was the least he could do to calm her down before she was thrown into another world of chaos again having to go back to Japan. Besides he wasn't sure when he would get to see her again seeing that Itachi was going to hand the keys over to the new owners before they all left, which could be months. Also if she was with him he could make sure she didn't walk around much more to keep from aggravating her injuries. Sasuke carefully laid the pinkette down on the far side of the bed and laid on his own side and looked at the clock none too pleased that he would be crudely awoken, no doubt, at an early hour.

* * *

Sasuke was right when he'd assumed that he would be woken up at a drastically early hour. It was only 8AM, but to him, that was early. Itachi was shaking his shoulder quietly to keep from waking the pinkette who had inevitably tangled her limbs around him in her sleep. Sasuke groggily squinted his eyes from the sunlight as he looked up at his brother's face.

"You have work to do today" Itachi said almost too happily.

Sasuke softly moaned in agony as he made his way into the bathroom to take a shower. When he came back out he was pleasantly surprised to see that Sakura was still asleep. After grabbing some breakfast he was quickly out the door in the back where a giant truck was parked with wired cages.

"It's time to pack away the chickens" Kisame called as he chased a few hens around the coop.

Sasuke slapped a hand over his face. He wasn't ecstatic about the smell, but the fact that he would have to chase the source of it made him quiver with agitation and disgust. He luckily talked his way out of chasing them and agreed to carry and stack the cages in the truck. After they were done, both of them covered in feathers, Itachi slapped the back of the truck a few times and the big red car drove away down the road.

"Who'd you sell them to?" Sasuke asked a little out of breath.

"A neighbor five or so miles down the road. He's coming back for the goats too."

"Oh joy…" Sasuke huffed sarcastically. At least he wouldn't have to chase them.

Itachi just scowled at his younger brother as he headed inside for a glass of water. Sasuke just sat on the back porch wondering what time Sakura's flight left. He couldn't drive her to the airport seeing that he didn't have an American driver's license, but he wanted to at least say goodbye before she left. He waited until the man came back for the two goats then he made his way into the kitchen to grab another glass of water from the tap. He never thought he would ever catch himself doing something that grotesque without even a second thought. He always drank bottled or purified water back home.

"Now's your last chance" Itachi said as he headed upstairs to take a shower and get dressed in fresh clothes.

Sasuke followed suit, but stopped before walking into his room. Sakura wasn't sleeping on the bed anymore, so he peaked into her doorway and saw a suitcase laid out on her bed that was almost filled. He didn't want to admit it, but the scene in front of his eyes made him a little upset. He couldn't stand her in the beginning, but he reluctantly admitted to himself that he would miss her for the time they'd be apart from each other. He walked into her room only to have her crinkle her nose as she looked at him.

" 'Sup chicken shit" she snorted while pinching her nose.

Sasuke lifted up his arms and smelled his armpits as he gave her a funny face but she just answered his unasked question, "I can smell that you've been around the chickens, go shower."

"But-"

"I'll still be here when you get back" she smiled as she gave him a knowing look, "I won't hug you goodbye while you smell like that."

Sasuke just scowled at her from over his shoulder as he walked out of the room and went into his shower. Sakura finished stuffing her suitcase and stealthily slipped out of her room with it a few minutes later and threw it in the back of Itachi's truck. He was leaned up against the red truck with his freshly washed, damp hair and Sakura was reluctant to take one last look at the house. She was sad that she was leaving it all behind. She almost felt mad that they weren't going to tell her until she was already gone, but she was at peace knowing that she was still going to have a home, because she had her family to come back to. Although it would be awkward living without them for a while. However her lungs needed special treatment and she knew that. As apprehensive as she was to special treatment she knew it wasn't a want, it was a necessity. She opened the passenger door and almost closed it when a hand caught it half way and suddenly she was nose to nose with the youngest uchiha. She let a generous shade of red flow to her cheeks as her eyes grew wide.

"You didn't think you were getting off that easy, did you?" he asked sardonically with a smirk as he leaned in closer.

He let his lips softly touch onto hers causing her to space out so much that she didn't notice him snaking a hand around her to click her seat belt. As soon as their lips parted he closed the door and Itachi revved the ignition and they drove away leaving him standing there watching them disappear into the distance.

"You know" Sai grumbled from behind Sasuke, "She wouldn't have to leave it if weren't for you and your bad decisions."

Sasuke had to clench his teeth to keep from slugging Sai in the face. He was in a bad enough mood having to watch Sakura leave for the airport without him, and he wasn't about to have some over zealous fraternal twin jamming his two cents down his throat.

"You started that fight, and I finished it. If you have a problem with how it played out, I can always go another round." Sasuke spat as he turned around with his arms crossed and a cocky scowl on his face.

"That's enough you two" Shisui cut in, "We have boxes to pack."

"How soon are we leaving this hell hole?" Sasuke asked apprehensively as he looked back down the dirt road only seeing the dust the tires of the truck had left floating in the air.

"A month, but we have to start shipping some things like the furniture. It takes a while to make it there."

"Are we living in a completely separate house?" Sasuke asked confused.

After all, the Uchiha mansion was generous enough in size to accommodate all of them, but it figures that Itachi would want his privacy.

"Something like that…" Shisui mumbled not particularly paying attention to the conversation since he was too busy organizing stuff.

He turned around to look at Sai as he said, "That basement studio is _your_ responsibility. If you don't pack it, we don't take it. Understand?"

Sai nodded as he headed downstairs to start getting his art supplies together. Sasuke seeing that he didn't have much to pack since he didn't have much with him in the first place took a cardboard box and threw all his Levi jeans and t-shirts into it and put all his original clothes back into his suitcase. It was unbelievable to think that he only had to spend a summer out here. But he wasn't looking forward to going back. He had to face the wrath of Karin and Suigetsu. However he packed what little possessions he had in the box and put it out in the hall to rot for a month while he sat on his ass doing nothing.

* * *

Sakura looked out the window of the truck. She wondered what Japan looked like. She remembered days at the orphanage, but she couldn't particularly remember the city, or anything specific. It terrified her that she didn't even really remember Japanese. However she didn't let that panic her as much as it normally would. She wouldn't be with strangers after all, or she hoped not. She was going to stay with Itachi's parent's, technically her _grandparents_ however she hadn't seen them since she was 4. It had been practically 12 years. She wouldn't be surprised if they seemed like complete strangers.

"You're over thinking" Itachi stated blandly, "It'll be fine. It's definitely going to be awkward at first, but you'll have everything you need at your fingertips and they'll take good care of you, I promise."

Sakura sighed a little in relief. Even though she had a slight feeling that Itachi was only saying that to make her feel better, It _did_ make her feel better. A lot better. She was still a big bundle of nerves when she got on the plane though. She hugged Itachi goodbye, but it wasn't very sad, because she knew she'd see him again relatively soon. She was only sad when the plane took off and the land she'd grown up on became more and more distant until the grass of the plains turned into the clouds of the sky and escaped her view.

* * *

"Yes, she got on the plane." Itachi spoke into the phone while Sasuke sulked on the couch watching him, "Her arrival time shouldn't be for a while, but you can check her flight number online… no I wasn't told that information, but you can ask her when she lands… no mother, just ask Tsunade what to do… no don't do that she doesn't like frilly things… mother…. _mother_… you are taking this a little too far."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the half of the conversation her was hearing. He could easily imagine what his mother must've been saying on the other line. When Itachi had finally hung up with an exasperated sigh, he turned his attention to Sasuke who seemed to be up to no good.

"Why don't you go do something constructive instead of sulk?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his older brother as he stormed out the back door and out to the barn. He felt like his bad attitude was coming back ever since Sakura left. It hadn't even been a full day, just a few hours, and he was already agitated. He kicked the hay around the barn for a while to blow off some steam and then noticed the pink bridle by Shanondoah's stall. Sasuke knew the new owners were obviously not going to use it or any of the other riding gear, so he got an idea in his head. He took the leather bridal into the back room and cut it into thin strips with some tools and made something for Sakura to always remember her horse by, he figured it'd make a good present to give her when he finally saw her again.

* * *

Sakura was nervous as she stepped off the plane and into the airport terminal. She had no idea who to look for or what to look for since almost nothing was written in English. However a person holding a sign caught her attention. It was "Sakura" written in English letters. She walked up to the man who looked at a photo in his pocket then back to the girl and smiled. He said something in Japanese then gestured for her to follow him. She was ushered into the limo and driven off to what she assumed would be her new home. When she got out of the limo she was immediately hugged by a woman with long black hair who grabbed her suitcase.

"I haven't seen you since you were _this_ tall!" the woman spoke in clear English making a height gesture with her hand close to the ground, "But since my youngest son is your age you don't have to call me grandma, just call me mom."

Sakura was surprised at how blunt the woman was. It almost made her uncomfortable. However she let an awkward smile grace her lips that she was in the company of someone relatively familiar. She could definitely see the resemblance between Itachi and his mother.

"Be sure to get a good night's rest to shake off that jet lag!" she cooed, "Because tomorrow, we're going _shopping_!"

Sakura sweat dropped a little. It's not that she didn't like shopping, but she liked running errands to shop for necessities. She wasn't one for shopping frivolously for clothes and other things that weren't essential or in other words 'girly.' The most girly thing she bought were tampons.

* * *

"Good morning Sakura dear!" Mikoto cooed at Sakura's bedside.

The pinkette sat up groggily as Mikoto proudly held up the practically empty suitcase and chirped, "I took the liberty of going through your suitcase and getting rid of all your torn, ripped, worn out, and depreciated clothing! We're going to build you a brand new wardrobe from scratch!"

Sakura wanted to bang her head on the wall. Hating the idea of endlessly trying on clothing, she inwardly cringed at the idea of 'shopping.' However she took pity on the woman who never had a daughter and two sons instead and decided to pity her just a little and play along. Mikoto quickly threw her one of the outfits she hadn't gotten rid of and made sure to give the girl a proper breakfast the Uchiha style before they left. Though it was quick Sakura wasn't sure that she had ever eaten such a gourmet meal. It looked more like a luxurious decoration than a meal, but as soon as she downed it she was grabbed and thrown into the limo along with Mikoto. The woman seemed too ecstatic for this trip. They made haste in stepping into the first store Sakura even bothered to side glance at. Mikoto was observant and wanted to make sure they went to the stores Sakura would like, and then that way Mikoto could drag her to a few of her own favorites.

"No, try on this one" Mikoto judged as she handed the pinkette the same one piece outfit in a smaller size.

Sakura came back out and modeled one of a thousand outfits just in that store for her grandmother/mother. She wasn't sure what she should call her. She was much to young to really be a grandma, however by legal documents she was her grandmother.

"Um…" Sakura hummed a little.

"Yes?" Mikoto asked giving Sakura her full attention.

Sakura took a deep breath before she explained, "Your'e much too young to be called grandmother, but I don't want to refer to you as 'mother' either… what should I call you? I'm sorry if this is a rude question…"

Mikoto laughed and waved a hand gesturing it was alright, "That's not a rude question dear. If you don't want to call me either of those things then Mikoto-san is just fine."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. It was the perfect amount of formality to keep her from feeling like this person was forcing themselves on her, but it was casual enough to make her feel like she was talking to a real person and not some distant respected relative. After they went to several stores Sakura finally had to ask Mikoto for a break. The two of them ate at a cafe in the mall for lunch while they were catching their breath. Mikoto still planned on hitting a few more stores before they left. One of which was a tea shop, her favorite one ever, to be exact. When she drug Sakura inside the pinkette was relieved that there was going to be no trying things on and took leisure in browsing all the teapots and contraptions to make tea. She even saw the wall of large tea canisters each with a funky name.

"Sakura come here" Mikoto cooed, "I want you to do something for me."

Sakura came over hesitantly before she continued, "I'm going to teach you how to serve tea when you have company over. It's a great way to meet new people and socialize, also to drink yourself as well. I want you to pick out your favorite tea-set, and then try a few teas off the wall and chose some to keep in your room."

Sakura was overwhelmed. She wasn't used to making these kinds of selections. Back home the only tea she really drank were the cheap grocery store bags of chamomile and plain iced tea. She slowly ran her fingers along the shelf carefully looking at all the pots. Immediately she stopped when she saw one that was cast iron, painted white with pink cherry blossoms around it. The tea cups were equally as eloquent and it even came with a heating rack to keep a tea-candle under the pot to keep the tea warm.

"Can I have this one?" Sakura asked pointing to the set.

Mikoto nodded then gestured for her to come over to the tea wall. The store associate took down the canisters Sakura was curious about and wafted the different scents of the lose leaf teas in her face until she chose a jasmine green tea and a strawberry pu-erh. Satisfied that Sakura had everything she needed, Mikoto decided to have mercy on the poor girl who was dead on her feet and took her back home. Sakura still wasn't completely over the jet lag so she made sure to take a nice nap that afternoon. The most intimidating was yet to come.

* * *

"Sakura?" Mikoto called into the girl's room bright and early one morning.

Sakura groggily sat up, confused and lethargic then answered, "Yes?" while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Mikoto stepped into the room then told her, "I don't want you to be alarmed, but Fugaku has returned from a business trip, so he will probably want to meet you. I just wanted to let you know because he tends to be a little loud and intimidating with his booming voice and somewhat strange questions. I just hope you don't take anything personally."

Sakura just nodded and laid back down on the bed. She was so tired she wasn't even sure she was going to remember what Mikoto had even said an hour from then.

Only a few hours later that afternoon Fugaku burst through the doors of the mansion. Sakura barely heard the noise, but she had come to recognize it as the front entrance and put her book down on the nightstand and stood. She was in a green dress with her hair in a neat bun and her bangs hanging lose. She was about to walk out of her room when the door burst open before her eyes with a tall man standing there with chocolate brown hair.

"So _you're_ Sakura?" He asked getting an inch from her face, "You've really grown up!"

"W-why th-thank you…" she stuttered feeling extremely uncomfortable, "A-are you Fu-Fugaku?"

The man nodded retracting his face and then when Mikoto appeared in the doorway Sakura breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

A month had gone by and Sasuke was eager to go back to his old school and life not full of hard, manual labor. Almost all the furniture had been sold or shipped and they had all been sleeping on cots on the floor.

"Load up and ship out" Itachi called up the stairs as he waited for the new owners to show up on the front porch.

He'd been doing paperwork the last week over the price of the sale, closing costs, paying back the mortgage to the bank, gathering and organizing all the keys to the house and it's respective locks, and signing over the ownership. Finally the old couple showed up to the house and Itachi handed them the envelope with the papers and the keys, as well as an e-mail address to reach him at in case there were any problems.

Sasuke watched the house fade away into the distance in the rearview mirror and thought 'good riddance.'

* * *

"Sakura dear" she heard a knock on her bedroom door and sat up.

She had a large bedroom, almost bigger than her old living room back in California. Her walls were painted a deep shade of magenta with white, teal, and pink colored furniture around her room. Her bed had a hanging canopy that draped down made of half translucent, wispy fabric.

She got up to open her door and was greeted by Mikoto's smiling face. She held up more shopping bags and made haste to pull out a new sundress for Sakura.

"What's the occasion?…" Sakura asked, confused, as the dress was shoved against her chest as an indication to put it on.

"Oh, nothing" Mikoto chirped, "It's just that Sasuke comes home today, so I thought you might like to wear something special."

Sakura's eyes grew a little wider at the prospect of finally seeing him again. She quickly swiped the dress from Mikoto, bowing in thanks (something she'd learned about the culture) and ran to the bathroom to put it on. While she was putting her hair in a side braid she heard the front door open and a chorus of happy voices follow. She figured it was _them_. Quickly bursting out of her room, she shuffled down the stairs, eager to see their smiling faces.

* * *

_**To Be Continued…**_

* * *

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! ^(^0^)^


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own Naruto.

I'm so sorry guys that it's been so long. College life is hard. Romance is hard. Life is hard. I've been struggling with an auto-immune disorder which I'll soon be getting self injections for. Essentially my immune system is out of control and causing more problems than it's fixing so I have to slowly shut it down and keep it blocked. A specialty pharmacy will be mailing self injections. I'll be stabbing myself with an epi-pen full of medicine every week. Not a fun solution, but hopefully it'll get rid of these ugly rashes and keep me from feeling like crap all the time. I'm really hoping for the best.

I've also been having some stuff going on in the romance arena. The boy who I thought initially rejected me wound up changing his mind. We aren't dating at the moment because he made a commitment to stay single for a year, so on New Year's we'll go on our date or something. But for now we're just really super close friends. He kisses me on the forehead sometimes, it's nice. I also got kicked out of the house he rents with like three other people. The "head bitch" of the household who I thought was my friend said I spent way too much time there and that's I'd worn out my welcome, well now the only real life friend I have is Blake (the boy I like). Everyone else has kind of faded out of my life. They've all gone to college and moved on to new friend groups and a new life. No one really tries to contact me besides my ex-boyfriend. He's just trying to be friendly though. He's not antagonizing me anymore. He just annoys me with his posts about his "fabulous most bestest girlfriend in the whole wide world" on facebook. Like really, keep it to yourself. I don't post on my facebook what a fabulous kisser Blake is when he gets drunk enough to french me. He can keep his mushy goo-goo crap off his feed just as easily. It's not even a courtesy to your ex to do that, it's just a common courtesy to everyone. Unless it's a photo of your wedding you can keep the kissy stuff to yourself and off the internet. Can I get an amen on that? Thank you.

Also, please don't be expecting regular updates on this anymore. I work full time and have five classes (a full schedule), so I literally come home almost every night and pass out cold. I have no energy for hardly anything. The only reason I'm updating this now is because I wrote all three of the papers I needed to so I don't have much to do in terms of school work the rest of the day.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW! ^(^0^)^ Thanks!

* * *

Itachi was hugging his mother while Sasuke and Sai stood behind him. While Itachi was talking to Mikoto about a few specifics of their move, Sasuke and Sai heard a fast shuffling of feet down the stairs. By the time the two of them were facing the stairway they were both engulfed by a hug from the pinkette.

"I missed you guys_ so_ much…" Sakura whispered as happy tears pooled in the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall.

Itachi turned his attention to her and used his thumb to gently wipe the tears away and smirked to her as his own greeting. Sakura latched herself onto Itachi's arm as he continued to speak.

"As I was saying" he cleared his throat, "I'm going to have to leave them here with you for a few days, months, who knows. We still aren't sure. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Mikoto clasped her hands together with glee as she excitedly said, "It's no problem at all! I'm glad to finally see my Sasu-chan again! And all these lovely faces are sure to brighten this lonely mansion. Leave them here as long as you like."

Sasuke cringed at the 'Sasu-chan' remark and let his cheeks turn a slight shade of red. However Sakura's face that was once wearing a jovial expression was now clandestine and full of sorrow.

"But…" She whimpered, "You _just_ got here!"

"Don't worry" he gently told her as he put a hand over hers that was around his arm, "You'll be seeing me again soon enough. And Sai and Sasuke are staying here with you. You won't be alone."

Sakura's eyes watered a little, but she just nodded as she let go of his arm and turned her gaze to the marble floor of the foyer. Sai stepped forward and put a hand on the pinkette's shoulder before turning her around and wrapping his arms around her.

"Everything's going to be fine." Sai told her in a soothing voice as he rested his chin on top of her head.

Sakura just nodded against his chest as Sasuke and Itachi went off into a separate room and Mikoto approached the two twins.

"Sakura," she tapped the girl on the shoulder, "Do you want to show Sai the room we prepared for him?"

It was just the distraction she needed. She nodded and grabbed Sai's hand as she led him to the room right next-door to hers.

"I hope you like it" she mumbled as she turned the light switch on, "I made sure to paint it your favorite colors and save a space for your art supplies."

Sai walked into the room with his eyes a little wide, but an unreadable expression. He looked over to his queen sized bed and at the small balcony overlooking the garden. It was the perfect spot to fit an easel and paint the flowers in the spring. Although, the green of summer looked just as pleasant.

He turned around to face Sakura and smiled. "It's perfect. I'm glad you put so much thought into it."

"I'll be going now" she excused herself as she walked out of the room and back down the hall towards her own.

When she walked into her own room she was shocked and somewhat startled at the raven haired boy she found perusing the book shelf of her room.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked dangerously with a scowl.

Sasuke smirked then asked, "What threw up in here? The Easter Bunny? There are so many pastel colors it makes my eyes hurt."

Sakura crossed her arms then huffed, "Suit yourself. I happen to like it. Now _what_ are you doing in here?"

"I can go where I want" he smirked mischievously, "It's _my_ house."

Sakura grew even more agitated when Sasuke asked her, "So has my mother feminized you? I took a peak in your closet as well. It seems she has a few 'ideas' of her own."

As he said the last part he held up and dangled a black lacy thong from his thumb and made her jump for it as he held it above her head, back up against the book shelf to keep her from knocking him over.

"It's the first time I've seen you in months" she growled as she jumped for the under garment, "And you're already pissing me off!"

Sasuke chuckled to himself as he continued to watch her jump. He was so entertained that he didn't notice Itachi enter the room. His older bother promptly smacked him over the head before lowering his arm for Sakura to retrieve her underwear.

"This is not what I had in mind from our discussion" Itachi growled.

Sasuke arrogantly crossed his arms as he shot his own dose of sass right back, "I'll do what we discussed how I please, otherwise it's no fun."

"This _isn't_ about having fun and you know it" Itachi ended the argument with a grunt as he grabbed the collar of Sasuke's shirt.

Sasuke scowled and tugged Itachi's hand off his shirt and sneered, "If you came to say goodbye to Sakura, then do it, but don't pick a fight with me."

Itachi shook his head at his little brother with a condescending manner and stepped in front of Sakura. He couldn't find the words to express his need to protect and provide for her, so all he could convey it through was a hug. She returned the tight embrace and debated over whether or not she would ever let go. Eventually Itachi broke the embrace and walked out of the door. And just like that, he was gone. Sasuke watched Sakura stare aimlessly at the doorway for a few moments before he made a move to leave. He put a hand on the door frame and looked over his shoulder at the pinkette.

"I'll be in my room down the west wing hall if you need me. If you can't find it then ask one of the maids."

Sakura didn't even make eye contact with Sasuke to signal she heard him but sat at the table in her room on a cushion on the floor. She figured it would be a good time for tea, but almost pulled her hair out when the names of the tea and instructions weren't in English. She just decided to walk around the house's garden out back instead. She'd rather be angry outside in the sunshine than angry in her now cramped room. It was almost a paradox, because the room was huge, but she felt the atmosphere slowly suffocating her.

Sasuke slowly walked down a few halls of the mansion until he was in his wing of the house. He recognized it as his wing when he passed a game room and his massive study room. When he got to his actual room breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally home. His suitcase was even neatly on the floor of his room. He unpacked all of his clothes and put them back into the drawers of his massive dresser. He then sat in a chair by the large window of his room overlooking the garden. His mind wandered to pink hair, which soon enough, he spotted walking around the garden. She even stopped every couple steps to smell some of the flowers. After a while a maid came walking into his room over to his suit case.

"Don't bother" he huffed, "I've already put all the clothes away."

The maid looked at the back of the Raven haired boy's head with wide eyes.

* * *

"He _what_?" Mikoto asked in disbelief.

"I'm telling you the truth!" The maid stuttered out.

"Wow…" Mikoto said to herself as the maid bowed then walked back out of the room, _"He really has changed."_

Mikoto smiled to herself when she saw Sakura walking through the back garden from the kitchen french-doors. It was easy to get lost in the nature out there. She poured two cups of vanilla chai tea and carried them out to where Sakura was standing several meters away from the door. Sakura was startled by the sudden presence behind her, but calmed herself once she saw who it was.

"I hope you're enjoying yourself here" Mikoto cooed as she held out a cup to Sakura.

She took it in her hands with a nod of appreciation as she answered, "Yes, I am. It's nice and calm around the house, but there isn't too terribly much to do."

Mikoto sighed with an understanding smile. "Now you know why I'm excited to fill some of the extra rooms in this hollow house. Making sure all of you are happy and comfortable gives _me_ something to do, besides shopping. But believe me, even shopping looses its luster after a while."

Mikoto tapped her chin whilst thinking of something for Sakura to do. An idea popped into her head when she looked up to her sons bedroom window and saw him sitting in the chair watching them. She got a wicked grin on her face before acting on her impulses.

"Look!" she shouted, pointing at the window.

Sakura quickly spun around and looked to where Mikoto was pointing. All she saw in the window was a knocked over arm-chair and flowing, navy blue curtains.

_"Damn…"_ Mikoto inwardly cursed, _"If only he hand't moved."_

Sasuke was leaning up against the wall next to his window scowling. His mom had almost blown his cover.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Oh…" Mikoto smiled sheepishly. "I guess it flew away. Oh well."

Sasuke was none too pleased with the situation his mom had just put him in. Not only could it have been awkward if Sakura had seen him, but the fact that even his mother had seen him could prove to be disastrous. Especially when she had nothing to do but terrorize him. He loved his mother, but she could very easily become a hinderance with her nosy tendencies. She even hired a private detective to follow him, which is how she found out about his gang activities.

"Sakura dear" Mikoto chirped while putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Why don't you go inside and freshen up? There's something fun I want you to do today."

"What is it?" She asked confused.

"You'll see later! Run along!" She said giddily as she ushered the girl into the house.

After she saw Sakura headed towards her room, Mikoto booked it to the west wing to see her son. She was excited to play match-maker, a game where she was the only appreciative person, but didn't care what everyone else thought. She walked into her son's room to see him watching cartoons on his TV, laying on his king sized bed.

"Take her out" Mikoto said firmly with her hands on her hips.

Sasuke sat up while turning the TV off and faced his mother, "What?"

"Show her a good time!" She shouted, "The poor girl is bored to tears!"

"You take her out" Sasuke huffed apathetically as he went over to his computer.

"No" Mikoto ground out as she rushed over and pulled the power chord to the computer out of the wall, "This is something _you_ need to do."

It was times like these where Sasuke considered his mother a hinderance. He was tired from his flight and drive back to the house. He hadn't gotten over his jet lag at all since he just got there. The last thing he wanted to do on his first day home was peruse the city with a girl who had the mental capacity of a child. He knew she would go wandering off like a grade-schooler. Babysitting was an obligation he didn't want to fulfill today.

"Please?…" his mother made one last pleading attempt.

Sasuke hated when she did that. Her face looked so full of innocent sorrow that he knew he couldn't say no. He didn't even give her an answer, he just hopped off the bed and stormed out of his room. Mikoto smiled to herself knowing that she had accomplished step one of her mastermind plan.

_"Why does she have to make my job even harder?"_ Sasuke thought bitterly to himself as he slowly strode down the hall Sakura's room was situated in.

The other thing he didn't want to deal with was Sai, who would conveniently be right next door to her. It wasn't only this that put Sasuke in a bad mood, but the fact that ever since his plane landed in Tokyo a few hours ago, his phone had been blowing up with so many text messages that he actually turned the damn thing off. Most of the messages had been sent a while ago while he was in the United States, but his service provider didn't have an available global plan, so he wasn't able to receive the messages

There was a slight knock on Sakura's door that made her jump a little bit. She was expecting Mikoto to enter her room but she instantly frowned at the tall masculine figure she saw instead.

"Oh" she grunted, "It's just _you_."

Sasuke glared at her for that comment but he walked up to the table she was sitting at and put his hand on top of the book she was reading before sneering, "Shape up and ship out, I'll be waiting in the car out front. You have ten minutes."

Sakura didn't like taking orders, but when she saw Mikoto two minutes later she was guilted into going. She knew that Mikoto had made Sasuke take her out only because she was bored to oblivion inside the house. It was harder for her to be entertained than her brother. If you gave him paint, music, and a landscape he could enjoy himself for days at a time. She, on the other hand, required more activity, more brain and muscle stimulation. She plodded into the bathroom and opened a drawer she rarely ever needed, her make up drawer. She didn't even wear make-up until Mikoto put it on her. She slapped on some black eyeliner that made her jade orbs seem smoky and mysterious followed by mascara and pink lip stick to match her hair. Taking one last look in the mirror she shook her head. It's not that she didn't like the look, she just felt weird that she was doing it for Sasuke of all people. When she walked out to the car Sasuke was almost too distracted to unlock the car door. He hoped she hadn't noticed as she buckled up her passenger seat belt.

"Where to captain chicken shit?" she mocked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I don't smell like those disgusting creatures anymore, don't call me that. And we're headed somewhere I think you'll like."

"Where?"

"The city."

"Been there, done that." she yawned uninterested.

Sasuke's brow twitched in irritation as he added, "You went to the mall with my mother, you didn't see the rest of it."

In a matter of minutes Sakura was surrounded by buildings and metropolitan advancement. Sasuke parked his car on the outer edge of it all and opened her car door.

"Are we walking the rest of the way into town?" She asked confused.

"Ever taken a bullet train?" He sarcastically answered her question with one of his own.

Sakura just gave him a blank face of utter ignorance. Of course she hadn't. They didn't have those out on the rolling grasslands. She'd be lucky to spot some railroad tracks on her way into town, let alone an actual mass transit train. She was a little hesitant to step into the metal contraption, and she almost lost it when he airlock doors closed right behind her. Sasuke pulled her arm causing her face to collide with his chest.

"Breathe…" he whispered in her ear as her shallow breathing started to even.

She wasn't excited about going that fast. It's not that she didn't love a thrill, but technology on a massive scale such as this always made her nervous. She had heard and read several internet articles about this kind of stuff breaking down and having horrible accidents and killing the passengers. After Sasuke led them back out of the train and up the station stairs, Sakura was overwhelmed. The city was really huge. Even the city back home where the airport was couldn't hold a glass of water to this. There were stores on top of stores on top of stores in one tall building and signs on the sides of all of them. She had never seen so much cement and metal without a single sign of vegetation in sight. She just stood there in awe of it all, not noticing that Sasuke was about to cross the street.

"Stay close to me" he told her from over his shoulder as they were walking down the side walk.

He told her that because she couldn't speak hardly any Japanese besides 'thank you' and 'sorry'. He didn't want to fail his obligation to Itachi, or himself. It wasn't his job to show her a good time, but he had been charged with making sure she was protected.

_Earlier That Day:_

_Itachi and Sasuke sat in arm chairs facing each other as they crossed their legs and arms. Sasuke could tell by his brother's demeanor that this wasn't a typical "behave yourself" talk. This was important._

_"Sasuke" Itachi said his brother's name, making sure he had his full attention. "There's something of utmost importance I need you to do, and I can't ask Sai."_

_Sasuke hated the boy even being mentioned as an alternative to him, even if Itachi was specifically saying that he couldn't do it._

_"I need you to protect Sakura."_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. Daddy's little country-bumpkin girl in the big city, oh the horror. What could possibly be coming after her, or even want to come after her? Especially in a foreign country she hadn't been in for ages._

_"Sakura's mother is fighting for custody of both the twins back."_

_Sasuke's eyes narrowed. It was almost an instinctive reaction how he felt. He felt as if someone were to even lay a hand on Sakura in attempts to take her away from him, that he would tear that person to absolute shreds._

_"What are you talking about?" He asked for clarification._

_"I know Shisui told you the circumstances of why we adopted them. Don't act ignorant. Her mother sent us a letter in the mail asking to meet them a few years ago, and I refused. A parent who abandons their children out of sheer apathy and unwillingness to raise them has no right to rejoice in the spoils of seeing them become successful adults. On top of that, I don't want to have a repeat of them being cast away and have Sakura be absolutely devastated, again. I don't even want her to know her mother is still alive. If she realizes that it was all a lie and she wasn't wanted by her own parents, she'd crumble. Sai could take the 'd be more angry and motivated to move forward. However he'd tell Sakura, so I chose not to let him know either. Mother is still friends with the woman who brought Sakura to the orphanage, Kushina. She talked to her and told her to take good care of Sakura, and keep her out of Akira and Hana's sight. Those are her parents' names. Make sure you know it and keep a lookout. If they find out we're back in Japan we'll have a serious case on our hands. Even the Uchiha personal police might not be able to intervene."_

_"Why is it my job?" Sasuke asked just a little peeved that his brother was practically dumping this on him._

_"Sai doesn't know the city like you do. Sai isn't as quick as you are, and not as street smart. To top it all off, his ignorance of how things flow in the city could wind up getting both of them hurt. You're in charge of Sai as well, but he'll be less of a burden seeing how he locks himself away so much."_

_Sasuke still didn't feel like his brother had justified himself enough, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. "How do I get her to listen to me?" he asked._

_"I want you to get her to trust you."_

_"Even if it means doing something you'd be mad at me for?" Sasuke asked with a devilish smirk._

_Itachi could easily read his brother's thoughts, "If that's what it takes. But know this, if you hurt her, I will make your life living hell for the rest of your existence. You can do what you wish, if you wish to suffer the consequences."_

_Sasuke raised a brow at his brother exaggerated threat, but took it to heart and decided to go pay the pinkette a visit._

_…end of flashback._

"Look!" Sakura pointed to a corner Takoyaki stand, "What's this?"

Sasuke explained the snack food to her and even bought her one to satisfy her bizarre interest in foreign food. Most people were weirded out by Japanese food, and customs and took a while to adapt, but since she had been a child here, he suspected she still had the acquired taste for many of their foods. Eventually the two of them came to the corner cafe Sasuke liked to eat at and even though it was only 4pm, he decided to get the two of them a table and eat an early dinner.

"My treat" he stated the obvious as he opened the menu.

He already knew everything that was on it, but it never hurt to check if there was anything new since he hadn't been there in so long. He ordered his usual orzo tabuli salad with extra tomatoes and Sakura didn't even know how or what to order, so Sasuke just ordered for her. When the waiter came back with their food Sakura let a grin show on her face as a strawberry parfait was placed in front of her with little sticks of strawberry pocky sticking out of it and everything. Sasuke wasted no time in digging into his salad and sakura into her food as well. Sasuke was about to ask for the check when two people he really didn't want to see showed up. Sasuke and Sakura were sitting outside, enjoying the late summer early fall weather. It surprised him a little to see them walking down the street arm in arm, so he tipped his face a little away. He hadn't told anyone he was back home yet, so if he was spotted he knew it would cause an uproar. Karin and Suigetsu were two of the worst loud mouths he knew. Sakura didn't notice his small disguising gesture as she continued to eat her food. However Sasuke took a deep breath of relief when Karin and her monstrosity of a boyfriend were out of sight. Sakura leaned back in her chair rubbing her stomach contently as Sasuke signed the receipt and put his debit card back into his wallet.

"Let's go" he said monotonously as he headed for the door.

Sakura followed him out and tried to catch up with him as he walked down the street but kept being knocked around by cold shoulders of merciless, bustling city residents. Sasuke stopped and turned his head to look over his shoulder. That was all the time Sakura needed to burst forward through the crowd to latch onto his arm. sasuke wasn't going to have a girl hanging onto him, so he removed her arms from around his and just clasped her hand.

"This is easier" he commented dryly as they continued walking, "But don't go wandering off."

Sakura nodded as he led her down a few more city blocks and he led her inside an extremely tall building. He smirked to himself hoping she wasn't afraid of heights.

"Ever been in a glass elevator?" he asked.

Sakura innocently shook her head as he led her down a few corridors and there was a line of people. Sasuke and Sakura were ten people back from huge metal doors, and when they were at the front of the line and stepped inside and took a seat. Sakura nearly felt her sphincter cramp up. She didn't hate heights, per say, but she'd never seen something this egregious. A tree was one thing to climb, but a building almost a mile high was another. It wasn't so much a building as it was a tower. The top looked like it was in the shape of a frisbee and was covered in windows for people to observe the city. Sakura felt her grip on Sasuke's hand tighten as the elevator moved up. All of the walls were made of glass so she could see how fast and how high they were going. Sasuke smirked to himself at her grip on his hand. She always acted tough, but now that he'd taken her out of her familiar settings she was almost a mess.

"It's fine" he told her calmly as he pulled her up out of the seat to go look out the window.

He knocked on the glass firmly then said, "See? It's made of reinforced glass. It would take an explosion to crack it."

However that comment didn't make her feel better now that she was thinking of absolutely bizarre events that could happen. When they stepped into the frisbee shaped observatory Sakura nearly shrieked. The floor was reinforced glass too. It looked like she was walking on air a mile high. She immediately jumped onto Sasuke's back.

"What are you doing?" he asked, annoyed, "The floor isn't hot lava. Get off."

"Don't drop me!" she whimpered.

Sasuke noticed a few people were starting to give them looks, and because he was back in Japan, he was a bit of a celebrity again. The last thing that needed to happen is have attention drawn to him. A scandalous tabloid within 24 hours of being home was not a good thing. He just carried her over to a part of the floor that wasn't glass and set her down. Crossing his arms, he gave her a harsh glare. He didn't want to babysit today.

"Excuse me" a girl tapped him on the shoulder.

Sasuke winced. Game over.

He turned around to face the girl with a "Hn."

The girl almost swooned at the masculine grunt and asked, "Can I please take a picture with you?"

Sasuke turned around to face Sakura who was looking at him with a strange expression.

Sasuke grunted "Hn" again as the girl gasped with glee and clung onto his arm smiling to her friend holding a camera.

After the flash of the camera went off Sasuke quickly walked away. Usually lines would form once he started the fan service like that.

"Did you get a good look?" he asked her in a bit of a panic rush.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at the large windows and gasped. She hadn't even gotten a really full look.

"Wow…" she inhaled deeply. "You can see the whole city from here. And look! There's the house!"

It was easy to see the massive Uchiha estate on the edge of the metropolitan city. Sasuke smirked as he took a moment to take in the view himself, but the clock was ticking and he knew he had to get out of there before more fan girls recognized him and swarmed him.

"Come on" he grunted as he grabbed her hand and led her forcefully across the glass floor (against her will) to the elevator.

She closed her eyes on the way down not wanting to realize just how high off the ground she was. The dropping of the elevator was making her nauseous enough. She was glad when Sasuke pulled her back out of the building and in a way something struck her as oddly familiar. He was showing her around the city. _His_ city.

"So are you showing me _your_ world this time?" she asked softly.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks for a moment and looked over his shoulder at the pinkette, "I guess I am."

He remembered how she had shown him her country escape in the middle of the woods at the lake. In a way the city wasn't much of an escape, but it was his jungle gym, his world, and his habitat. He was letting her inside of his personal bubble. She was a little happy that he was letting her in, but she couldn't help but feel nervous as she noticed someone following them. Sasuke noticed too and made a sharp turn into a dark alleyway. Things could get ugly.

"Sakura" he said sharply, "Hide behind that dumpster, and don't make _one_ single**sound**. I mean it."

Sakura didn't take too kindly to his authoritative tone but she sat up against the brick wall of a building behind the blue dumpster just as he'd asked her to, and soon she heard two voices. She guessed the second one belonged to the man who was following them.

"Well well well, how kind of you to let us know you came back."

Sasuke gritted his teeth before answering, "I came back to Japan, not Akatsuki. Don't confuse the two."

"Then why do you still wear those dog tags around your neck? I can't see the tags, but that chain leading under your shirt is familiar enough for me to know. You can't put your past behind you, and deeply, you miss it, don't you?"

Sasuke's fists clenched, "I don't want anything to do with you guys anymore, stay away from my family and I."

"Oh, well what about the cute pinkie girl you were walking around with then? She obviously isn't family, right? I'll just see what I can do with _her_. You know, some ropes, tape, a few cameras. I've always wanted to be a porn star."

Sasuke lowered his face so his bangs were shadowing his eyes that were slowly turning crimson with rage, "I'll _kill_ you. _All_ of you if you _ever_ touch her."

"Oh dear" the man sarcastically gasped, "It seems I've hit a nerve. Is that a threat?"

"It's a _promise_" Sasuke seethed dangerously.

"I'll leave you to think on it. This meeting was ambiguous, but you know what you need to do to get your real life back."

"I've changed" he grunted.

"Bullshit" was the last thing she heard the man mutter as she heard his footsteps retreating out of the alleyway.

Sasuke quickly walked around the dumpster to where she was and lifted her off the ground and helped her dust off her dress. He didn't mean to make her sit in the dirt in her nice clothes, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do in that situation if he was supposed to protect her. She was still more important than her clothes. After she was standing square on her feet Sasuke pinned her between him and the brick wall with his hands on the sides of her head and got close to her face.

"Now that this has happened" he huffed in irritation, "I'm laying down a few ground rules. Follow what I say to a T, because it's for your own safety. Don't wander off whatever you do. Always be home before dark. And most importantly, _don't trust anyone_ besides our family. In fact, don't even go deep into the city without someone with you."

"Our family?…" she repeated a little frazzled.

It wasn't that she had a problem with being viewed as family, but she had her suspicions that Sasuke thought of her as more than his adoptive niece, especially since they were the same age. Sasuke did view her as more than his adoptive niece, but he couldn't explain what. Knowing that even if he didn't have an emotional obligation to himself to protect her, he had an obligation to fulfill the promise he made to his brother. He would've shown Sakura more of the city, but that unexpected meeting put him on edge. He wasn't willing to risk another encounter.

When they arrived back to the car Sakura saw the sun setting. The drive home was relatively silent, almost eerily silent. And Sakura unconsciously followed Sasuke back to his room. When he was opening the door he looked curiously over his shoulder at her.

"What?" she asked blissfully ignorant.

Sasuke pinched the skin in-between his eyes. "Why?"

Sakura cocked her head to the side in confusion. Sasuke just figured there was no avoiding it and invited her into his room. She was taken aback by all the luxurious furnishings and all the space. She didn't think a room could be even more astounding than hers, but his emaculately high ceilings and lavished decor suggested otherwise. She didn't even know what to do when he hit a few buttons on a touch screen by his door and the fireplace self ignited.

"Buttons can do _that_?"

Sasuke shook his head with a smirk. It was funny to see how many things she was unfamiliar with. He was still confused about why Itachi wouldn't even try to get a few luxuries out there, but after living out there for the summer it wasn't too shocking to realize Sakura had never seen any of this stuff. After Sasuke stared at the pinkette for a little while longer, he realized he had something for her. He walked over to his dresser then looked over his shoulder at her.

"Close your eyes" he grunted.

Sakura gave him a weary expression before she complied and stood there with her eyes closed. She could hear the faint rustle of Sasuke shuffling through his drawers before she heard his soft footsteps walking towards her. After a few moments she felt a soft cord around her wrist and when she opened her eyes she saw Sasuke fastening the leather from Shanondoah's bridle cut into smaller strips and braided around her wrist. There were two small pieces of cloth on the ends to tie it together.

"This…" she whimpered, "It's..."

"Hn."

Sakura lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Sasuke's torso as she tried to hold back her bitter sweet tears.

"Thank you" she sniveled, "For saving that memory."

Sasuke just put a hand on her lower back then stoked her hair with the other. He just closed his eyes and sighed. Savoring the fleeting moment. His heart wasn't melting, but for the first time he was feeling a deep and intense emotion. He took the hand that had been stroking her hair and wrapped it across her shoulders and pulled her tight against him while his other hand stayed on her lower back. Sakura moved her head and gently pressed her lips on his. Sasuke turned his head a little to the side and deepened the kiss letting some of his pent up passion seep in. Surprisingly, Sakura responded with the same amount of vigor. Unconciously, Sasuke led her over to the couch as he kissed her senseless with both of their hands running wild. Sakura broke the kiss and was panting for a moment before she twitched, realizing that she was suddenly under Sasuke on his couch. Her face turned red at the realization.

"Don't play with fire" he seductively growled as he pressed his erection against her, "Or you might get burned."

Sakura thought her face was going to explode from all the heat rising to it. she had never had this kind of interaction with the opposite gender, and she had acted completely out of instinct, but it felt so good, so real, so _right_. Sasuke pressed his face harder against her as he moved his mouth to ravage her neck, careful not to leave love marks. As Sasuke's tongue ran all over her neck, she arched her back into him and moaned. He smirked against the skin of her neck.

"I haven't even gotten started yet" he erotically whispered in her ear before grazing it with his teeth.

Sakura shuddered under his touch and begged for more. When she made a motion to unburron his pants he grabbed her hand and gave her a blank face before shaking his head.

"Not yet" he grunted, "You aren't ready. All I'd do is hurt you."

"Why?" she asked almost angry, "What are you? A womanizer?"

At that last comment, Sasuke silently stood up and walked to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. Maybe a cold shower could help him control his thoughts a little better, and his emotions that were running wild.

After Sakura left Sasuke's room she felt bad, but she didn't realize what she said had been right on-the-dot. She was still angsty when she walked into her own room and let it out by screaming into her pillow and slamming her fists into the bed. After a few frustrated grunts, she fell asleep.

* * *

**_To Be Continued…_**

* * *

Again, I'm really sorry it took me so long to update. I really can't predict when I'll have enough free time and energy to do this. I work full time and have a full load of five classes.


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